Played (2006)

An examination of the malevolent London underworld with its despicable criminal underground. Ray (Mick Rossi) just finished an eight-year prison sentence after getting set up. Now he is back on the streets to settle the score. Played tries hard to become this weird mix of Tarantino meets Guy Ritchie and the end result is messy and rather poorly delevoped and directed to say the least. Big names like Val Kilmer (Batman Forever, The Saint) and Gabriel Byrne (End of Days) can't save the film from falling apart but can't save their selves either from this poorly excuse of film. That was boring, dull and not even funny as it tried to be a few times. Overall a big 'No' from me. (0/10)

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this movie, especially since reviews have stated that much of the script was improvised. The film seemed fairly tightly-scripted to me...perhaps this is a tribute to the cast or director.I also expected to be put-off by the limited screen time of the major names in the movie. To the contrary, I found it refreshing to have good actors in such small, but crucial, roles. This is the only way to avoid making movies into star vehicles that sacrifice story and direction for the sake of glorifying one or more of the lead characters.On the other hand, the plot left a bit to be desired. There are quite a few loose ends that never get tied up, including the massive loose end right before the final credits roll. There's a difference between being ambiguous and simply stopping the story in the middle of an arc. This is your basic 2.5-act movie.Overall, I enjoyed the movie and the characters. There's virtually no character development, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This is worth watching if you enjoy "small" stories about tragedy and get a kick out of a bunch of well-know actors suppressing their desire to be the center of attention.

As others have said, do not be mislead by the name cast. nearly all the major name actors have very little screen time.It is the first major role for Mick Rossi (he also did the screenplay)This film had a small budget & it shows.The production values are nil.The acting is only so-so.The script is chock full of the F word & variations of same plus other choice vulgarisms.I cant say I hated this film, Its just not good just mediocre.Ratings ** (out of 4) 52 points (out of 100) IMDb 4 (out of 10_

Okay, I got the screener at the video store I work at & thought the cast was interesting enough to give it a try. I've seen enough of these promos (especially from Lionsgate) to not expect much of a film, or more than a minute of each 'name' from the cover, so after reading some reviews here on IMDb I went in with low expectations.Overall, I'd have to say I pleasantly surprised. Lots of nice little plot twists, several double-crosses, a few scenes of genuine suspense.The movie centers around and features (newcomer?) Mick Rossi in almost every scene, and his performance only suffers in comparison to the more seasoned actors showing their stuff. He does a decent job as an unlucky little fish caught in a sea of meaner, bigger fish.And the long list of 'guests' do a stand-out job of fleshing out their characters & keeping the story compelling. Val Kilmer is great as a dopey 'cleaner'; Vinnie Jones is nicely menacing as a crooked cop; Gabriel Byrne, in the few minutes of screen time he has, is perfect as an understated dark angel; Joanne Whalley is strangely enticing as a long-suffering but supportive ex-love interest. Anthony LaPaglia & (the great) Bruno Kirby, unfortunately, add little as tough LA detectives, but arguably they didn't have much to work with.My only real problem would be the ending. One of those films that just kind of stops, and after so many little twists it would have been nice for something tighter to finish on.If you're at all interested, and can find it cheap, don't be afraid to give it a try.