The basic plot is a familiar one: a group of hoodlum misfits who form a chaotic "band of brothers" with an unspoken code of gangster ethics. After following a marginally successful heist, the plot starts dissecting the relationships, and the code starts breaking down until the eventual conclusion. There are scenes of each key members' familial relationships, which helps round out the characters, and helps sets the stage for a father/daughter dynamic what starts the unravelling.
Set within this fabric of a story is the main character Ray (played by Robert Carlyle), the leader of the gang. He has become disillusioned with his liberal mother's causes, and has gone to the criminal side, only to find that he is doomed to more disillusions of the path he has chosen. Why he has such faith in the social world of this criminal world is not explained, but it eventually becomes his hubris. As his world is crumbling around him, he seeks salvation by begging his girlfriend to start a new life with him, but she is fed up with his way of life, and doesn't see that they have any future together. She essentially says no.
As everything spirals down around him, Ray has one last chance: a wistful hope of a rendevouz with his girlfriend. That scene is worth experiencing without my spoiling it.
There are great performances everywhere. Ray Winston shows us the core of a seasoned gang soldier, and his hopes for his daughter's happiness and well-being. Philip Davis as Julian is the "loose canon" of the group (literally), and his scenes are very powerful...you just never know what he is capable of. The sweet innocence of Stevie, and Ray's affection for him, becomes a reflection of Ray's past, and is a constant reminder of the inner struggle within Ray.
This is a very violent film, and that may turn people off, but the violence is not gratuitous.
Set within this fabric of a story is the main character Ray (played by Robert Carlyle), the leader of the gang. He has become disillusioned with his liberal mother's causes, and has gone to the criminal side, only to find that he is doomed to more disillusions of the path he has chosen. Why he has such faith in the social world of this criminal world is not explained, but it eventually becomes his hubris. As his world is crumbling around him, he seeks salvation by begging his girlfriend to start a new life with him, but she is fed up with his way of life, and doesn't see that they have any future together. She essentially says no.
As everything spirals down around him, Ray has one last chance: a wistful hope of a rendevouz with his girlfriend. That scene is worth experiencing without my spoiling it.
There are great performances everywhere. Ray Winston shows us the core of a seasoned gang soldier, and his hopes for his daughter's happiness and well-being. Philip Davis as Julian is the "loose canon" of the group (literally), and his scenes are very powerful...you just never know what he is capable of. The sweet innocence of Stevie, and Ray's affection for him, becomes a reflection of Ray's past, and is a constant reminder of the inner struggle within Ray.
This is a very violent film, and that may turn people off, but the violence is not gratuitous.