The Guvnors (2014)

Oh another gangster flick from Britain . Anyone watching a British film from the last twenty tears must be under the impression everyone in England must be a gangster or a football hooligan in much the same way as anyone watching a 1970s movie set in New York must either be a victim of crime or the victim of a vigilante . Hopefully the English tourist board can sell England to foreign tourists but it's going to be very difficult selling a sub genre that has been done so many and too many times before . To be fair to THE GUVNORS it is a fairly engaging film for the most part A bunch of violent thugs led by Adam takes over a London estate through a reign of merciless violence . Stepping over the mark when they kill an erstwhile member of an old firm from 1980s former gang leader Mitch pulls his old crew together to take on Adam's ruthless thugs . It's a rather basic premise of old school "nice" gangsters taking on new school "bad" gangsters . Director/writer Gabe Turner has resisted the temptation of casting the usual suspects of Danny Dyer , Ray Winstone and Noel Clarke and the film works better because of this . You have to buy in to the concept that when the titular "guvnors" were young they were merely young rascals who stuck to their own . Certainly sticking to their own isn't what Adam's crew do as their portrayed as violent amoral thugs . The film asks us to take sides and you don't need any persuading as to which side to take . It also makes several good points as to how the aging process changes people I did say THE GUVNORS is an engaging film for the most part and it was chugging along very nicely . Unfortunately this sustained narrative pace doesn't seem good enough for Turner the screenwriter and adds a plot turn just over two thirds of the way through which supposedly adds another layer to the story which the film could have done without and interferes with the rest of the movie which lurches in to melodrama and cliché after this which is a pity because at least the film does try and bring something new to the table

I thought the trailer looked fairly good for this, so was excited to see this one. I was pretty disappointed with how it turned out. The characters seem to be very a-drift and nothing really comes together. We are left thinking a lot of questions. There is a lot of the typical hard-man action, but at the end it just looks like load of 15 year old boys fighting their Dads. We didn't rally get chance to meet any of the characters, and we stayed fairly distant from them throughout.What I did enjoy was some of the actors performances despite the broken script. It saved the film for me to an extent and made it OK to watch. Overall, nothing new here, a load of people hating another load of people that have a big fight somewhere very public at the end. But some of the performances make it watchable.

Set in South London, The Guvnors sees the feral, fatherless, hoodied hoodlums of the modern era rail against the gangs of 30+ years ago, when there is suggestion that crime was more "decent".Recent movies (Harry Brown etc) have trod this well-worn path, but the The Guvnors' strength lies in a combination of a gritty yet credible story, brought to life by an ensemble of outstanding performances. Hip hop star Harley Alexander-Sule, half of the platinum-selling Rizzle Kicks is Adam, a disaffected young man who commands respect from his peers with an uncompromising mix of intimidation and blade. Showing no hesitation early on in horrifically cutting a girl's face who he suspects as an informer, he moves on to demand respect from old-timer Mickey, (a classy cameo from honey-voiced David Essex). The old-school old man, a former boxing coach, floors the young pretender with one magnificent punch but tragically fails to recognise the consequences of his nobility. Adam's gang waste no time and ignoring Queensberry rules their revenge, with the brutality that the half dozen young men can inflict upon a principled pensioner, is as cowardly as it is bloody. The vicious circle spirals as the (now middle aged) former boxing club members vow to avenge their mentor's murder and leading this line of fifty-something vigilantes, Doug Allen's Mitch, a former gangster who's still a chiselled alpha male, squares up to Adam...Gabe Turner writes and directs a fable that is a bleak snapshot of London's underclass with just a hint of social comment. The police are an impotent force who also miss the authority imposed by old-style "firms" and who resort to brutality whenever they can get away with it. Turner also suggests that violent behaviour is more nature than nurture - Mitch's young son, a product of a comfortable two-parent home is a foul mouthed bully at his grammar school, whilst Adam's young lad, being raised motherless in a council flat by a thug, is angelic. A neat touch from Turner has the feckless father touchingly chastise his son to "eat his greens".The soundtrack stuns, with Rizzle Kicks having written two of the numbers that give the film an edgy contemporary pulse, whilst a spot of Madness' funk offers a crumb of recognisable music for the greying dads in the audience. Turner is nothing if not a respectful filmmaker and where once The Long Good Friday spoke of a new order taking over the capital, so too does The Guvnors pay homage to that seminal London movie, with a few nicely placed nods for the film-buffs. Alexander-Sule's massive fan base will see that one way or another The Guvnors will clean up either at the box office or online (though probably at both). But notwithstanding its platinum plated star the movie demands respect on merit. It is a gripping and well crafted tale, that will shock, amuse and ultimately stun with a devastating climax.

Doug Allen and Harley Sylvester put in terrific performances in this thought provoking film about a gang who control an inner city estate, but have the ghost and rep of their predecessors (by 20 years) hanging over them. The story's twist is well constructed and changes the perspective you have on both main characters. Sympathy ebbs and flow causing you to consider your own life actions in a profound way.Don't go into this film thinking your going to The Firm (new version) or Football Factory, The Guvnors has so much more. Dark in many parts and lively in others the realism it portrays is spot on.Thamesmede is a perfect setting with a number of infamous locations on view. Indeed the pub is well known for having shotgun pellets in its ceiling.