A way back in the early 1980s word of mouth was spreading about a great and violent Brit flick ( In those days things were really grim for British film making unlike the late 1990s ) called MCVICAR the true story of armed robber John McVicar who was branded Britain's public enemy number one . I eventually got to see it on video in 1983 and was thoroughly disappointed by it
Some people may say that if there's any failings it's down to a rock star being cast ( I'll come to that in a moment ) but for me it's the story that's at fault or more specifically the way the story is told . John McVicar faces many years in prison and plans his escape . So in effect the audience are not watching a biopic of Britain's most feared criminal , we're watching a film not entirely different from COLDITZ or ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ . In fact this was produced round about the same time as the Eastwood star vehicle and I can't help thinking this had much to do with it being produced . Tellingly MCVICAR has three producers and three executive producers and one can't help thinking too many cooks have spoiled this prison broth . That's the problem too much prison and not enough meat in the broth
As for Roger Daltry's performance I know some people who think he absolutely ruined the movie but if memory serves me right ( I haven't seen this movie for several years ) while not exactly being an Oscar worthy performance I don't think he's as bad as some people claim . If I have a problem it's just that he comes across as over emphatic when he's nasty and can only really be described as poor when after having a tantrum in the hall picks up an orange and tries to act all cool . Is there anything more unconvincing than a man getting cool with an orange ?
The one other thing I remember after first viewing is how this managed to get a X certificate ( It's an old version of the 18 cert ) from the British Board Of Classifiers . No one is killed , there's no explicit sex though there is a lot of bad language . I guess that's because it deals with a real life British criminal and no one wants to be seen glorifying crime . John McVicar is still alive today and makes frequent television appearances . He's certainly comes across as friendly old gentlemen who's very much of the old school type of criminal , that is he had strict codes of not hurting women and kids and not turning stool pigeon . In days like these where the British legal establishment seems more interested in the rights of paedophiles and terrorists more than the rights of their victims you really do find yourself forgiving the sins of an armed robber very quickly
Some people may say that if there's any failings it's down to a rock star being cast ( I'll come to that in a moment ) but for me it's the story that's at fault or more specifically the way the story is told . John McVicar faces many years in prison and plans his escape . So in effect the audience are not watching a biopic of Britain's most feared criminal , we're watching a film not entirely different from COLDITZ or ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ . In fact this was produced round about the same time as the Eastwood star vehicle and I can't help thinking this had much to do with it being produced . Tellingly MCVICAR has three producers and three executive producers and one can't help thinking too many cooks have spoiled this prison broth . That's the problem too much prison and not enough meat in the broth
As for Roger Daltry's performance I know some people who think he absolutely ruined the movie but if memory serves me right ( I haven't seen this movie for several years ) while not exactly being an Oscar worthy performance I don't think he's as bad as some people claim . If I have a problem it's just that he comes across as over emphatic when he's nasty and can only really be described as poor when after having a tantrum in the hall picks up an orange and tries to act all cool . Is there anything more unconvincing than a man getting cool with an orange ?
The one other thing I remember after first viewing is how this managed to get a X certificate ( It's an old version of the 18 cert ) from the British Board Of Classifiers . No one is killed , there's no explicit sex though there is a lot of bad language . I guess that's because it deals with a real life British criminal and no one wants to be seen glorifying crime . John McVicar is still alive today and makes frequent television appearances . He's certainly comes across as friendly old gentlemen who's very much of the old school type of criminal , that is he had strict codes of not hurting women and kids and not turning stool pigeon . In days like these where the British legal establishment seems more interested in the rights of paedophiles and terrorists more than the rights of their victims you really do find yourself forgiving the sins of an armed robber very quickly