London Boulevard (8/10)

A film is only as great based on how enjoyable it is. This feeling of fun comes from your personal taste. I really liked this movie because in my mind I set everything I heard about the film before hand aside and enjoyed it for the story it told. It's not original but in my mind I tried to look at it as it was a story all it's own. So I liked the film because to me it was interesting. The fact it seems to be just a collection of other crime drama films (namely "Carlitos Way") did not affect my viewing pleasure. This is a good movie, nothing fantastic. However this is still the kind of movie I like.

To really enjoy this movie you need not get strung up on the details. If you did this movie would only anger you rather then be entertainment (which is what a movie is suppose to do). It's kind of a wild fantasy where things are either bleak or fantastic. There's no real in between emotions. If this sounds confusing maybe it's just something you need to watch to understand. The film follows Mitchel (Colin Farrell), a gangster of sorts. He's just got out of prison after a three year sentence. Mitchel's looking to start over and to do new things, what those ideas are I couldn't really tell you. He's a dedicated man that knows how the criminal world works. When I say dedicated, Mitchel is the kind of guy that will be try to be the best at what ever he does. So being a gangster would spell disaster for him and everyone else in the world. He gets a miracle job (seriously!) to protect a young and closed off actress (Keira Knightly). She has a large house and Mitchel is there to keep paparazzi off the property. The actress Charlotte has some mysteries and like Mitchel a past she wants to get away from. Well Mitchel's former boss (Ray Winstone) won't let the best gangster he ever had working for him call it quits. Throw in wild supporting characters from the talents of Anna Friel, David Thewlis, Eddie Marsan, Ben Chaplin and Stephen Graham and you got something interesting. Like I said, you've seen it all before but why not enjoy it for what it is.

I feel I should apologize to myself and everybody else for thinking this would be one of the Oscar contenders last year. I figured the cast and the director would make something memorable ("The Departed for example). It disappeared off the buzz and only got a limited release in England but may see it's way into theaters in major US cities later this year. It's was a good movie, one I enjoyed it more than actually being a well made movie ( it's a bit messy with a kind of bad ending). Either way if you like the cast then here is something to watch.

8/10
Recommendation: Classic gangster movie with a great cast. If you like either I'd watch it. It may be a pretty weak 8/10 but I enjoyed it more than other movies I've given the same rating too.