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Wild Bill

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Wild Bill (2011)

October. 21,2011
|
7.2
| Drama
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Out on parole after 8 years inside Bill Hayward returns home to find his now 11 and 15 year old sons abandoned by their mother and fending for themselves. Unwilling to play Dad, an uncaring Bill is determined to move on.

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Reviews

Frances Chung
2011/10/21

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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Gary
2011/10/22

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

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Janis
2011/10/23

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

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Staci Frederick
2011/10/24

Blistering performances.

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Leofwine_draca
2011/10/25

A hybrid of social drama and London gangster film, WILD BILL marks the directorial debut of actor and personality Dexter Fletcher. It's the story of the titular character who returns home to care for his two boys and who soon finds himself mixed up with his old criminal friends. The narrative draws towards an explosive climax in which Bill must decide whether friends or family come first.I wasn't too sure about WILD BILL if I'm honest. I appreciate what the film was trying to do, but the whole narrative felt as familiar to me as the usual gangster story. You can't fault Fletcher's assured and confident direction, but the script lets it down; you never really care about what happens to Bill or his slightly obnoxious children.The casting of Charlie Creed-Miles doesn't help; I've always felt that this guy was a poor man's James Nesbit, and I didn't like him from the outset. Lots of familiar faces pop up (like Andy Serkis) but it's the weaselly bad guys who really stand out, particularly the ever-nasty Iwan Rheon (A GAME OF THRONES). WILD BILL boasts an impressively choreographed climax but other than that it's all rather humdrum.

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Spikeopath
2011/10/26

Wild Bill is directed by Dexter Fletcher who also co-writes the screenplay with Danny King. It stars Charlie Creed-Miles, Will Poulter, Liz White, Sammy Williams, Charlotte Spencer, Leo Gregory, Neil Maskell and Iwan Rheon. Music is by Christian Henson and cinematography by George Richmond.Wild Bill Hayward (Creed-Miles) is just out of prison after serving eight years. Heading home he finds his two sons Dean (Poulter) and Jimmy (Williams) fending for themselves after their mother abandoned them. Bill hadn't planned on hanging around, but if he doesn't then the boys will be taken into care. More pressing is that the local drug runners have got young Jimmy working for them, Bill might just have to take his parental responsibilities to another level and justify his Wild reputation.Splendid piece of British grit and wit, Wild Bill follows in the traditions of films directed by British actors, who for their debut directing assignment impressed with the ability to grab the attention and no loosen the grip. Fletcher has done a bang up job here, managing to turn what could have been a standard dysfunctional family melodrama into something more meaningful, engaging and suspenseful.Story is set to the backdrop of working class London, where the building of the Olympic stadium serves as a beacon of hope in the distance, while our principal characters struggle through a world of grimy flats, empty pubs, dirty cafés and drug infested council estates.The narrative operates on two fronts, Bill (Miles superb) is trying to keep on the straight and narrow, as he candidly observes, if his dog craps on the pavement he will get 18 months back in prison! But as he tries to build a relationship with his two sons, especially the older and more colder Dean, circumstances are drawing him back into the violent world he desperately wants to leave behind. It's this angle that gives the film its suspense, as viewers we are wondering if Bill can achieve his goals, will he get a break, will the family become one unit?Elsewhere the film operates as a coming of age story, where Dean has had to grow up real fast to look after his younger brother, even taking on employment at the age of 15 to provide for Jimmy and himself. Then there is matters of the heart, as he is strongly attracted to local girl Steph (Spencer), this aspect is very well handled by Fletcher, who gets the excellent Poulter to deftly portray those early nerves when Cupid starts to draw back its bow, the tentative fumblings of young love easily identifiable to us all.Pic is full of familiar British faces, most of them just stopping by in cameos to lend friendly support to Fletcher's project. They all offer a reassuring presence to proceedings, adding further weight to what is damn fine debut picture. Sometimes violent, often heart warming and tender, and very laugh out loud funny, Wild Bill is a winner. 9/10

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adityamurti79
2011/10/27

What do you do when you come back home after serving time, and find your children abandoned by their mother, fending for themselves in their apartment. What do you do, when to add to your miseries the social service gives you one final warning to either mend your ways, or lose your family forever.I can't say much about us, but Wild Bill Hayward (Charlie Creed-Miles) works as a human signpost. He can't risk it and wants to set the broken pieces right. His elder son Dean (Will Poulter) is a no nonsense guy. A tough life in the absence of his parents has made him being worked up all the time.But the crown goes to Jimmy (Sammy Williams) who is the sweetest kid in the block, and is successfully, and willingly lured by the drug peddlers, and the local drug dealer. He is the one who seems to have inherited his father's genes perhaps. But Bill knows that he has to fight back. He has to keep Jimmy out of harms way, and in his mission, he is arrested again for breaking the terms of the parole.The story of the film is good, but the way it has been scripted and has been shot makes that difference, and makes it a winner.Two classy scenes that's a must watch. The scene where Bill makes a paper airplane and propels it to take a wonderful flight from his balcony much to the delight of Jimmy.The second one is the last scene, when he tells the cop as he is about to be driven away on the police car. "They are my boys. I am their dad", and then he cries almost inconsolably. I still feel that powerful emotion while I am writing this review.It's a must watch movie that would remind you of the style in Tyrannosaur and most of the attitude in Attack the Block. Go for it.Indiekaleidoscope

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octopusluke
2011/10/28

Since Guy Ritchie's 1998 feature debut Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, British drama has been obsessed with clichéd gangster movies. They're relatively low cost to make, quick turnaround shoots with huge box office opportunity. Stylistically a mixture of fifties kitchen sink drama and the angry young men fronted British New Wave, the genre today has quickly become an outmoded self-parody, in desperate need of revitalising. Along comes venerable actor Dexter Fletcher. Rising from the fag ash of Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, his first foray into filmmaking takes the same hackneyed themes of…Hackney, and tells a new story full of satire, sincerity and heart.After eight years behind bars, "Wild Bill" Hayward (Charlie Creed-Miles) returns home to his family in their tower block home. The wife is nowhere to be seen, abandoning their two children – paternal teenager Dean (Will Poulter) and his potty mouthed brother Jimmy (Sammy Williams) – for the sunny sights of Spain with her new boyfriend.A tough nestle back in to normality, the broken home soon leads to social services reps (Jaime Winstone and Jason Flemyng) asking questions. They fend them off by pretending to play happy families, but the bossy Dean tells his work-shy dad to go straight and get a job. Doing porridge has changed the ex-drug dealer, but unfortunately the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as Jimmy is accosted by local thug Terry (Leo Gregory) as a drug mule. Fighting for his freedom on the outside, Bill steps back in to the game, saving his son and taking a quick crash course on parenthood in the process.Whilst the story is far from revolutionary, Fletcher and his writing partner Danny King have crafted a truly excellent script, which is neither excessively ghettoized, nor saccharine. The good works lead to good performances too, particularly from Son of Rambow's Bill Poultner, showing great range as the apathetic teenager turned surrogate father figure. Virtually a non-budget movie, it's clear that Fletcher went through the phonebook and asked for a few favours of his supporting cast. Everyone's here: the compelling Olivia Williams as the concerned social worker, Sean Pertwee as the no-nonsense constable who through Bill in the slammer those eight years ago and, best of all, Andy Serkis puts down the motion capture play things for a menacing performance as an East London mafioso. I wish he put down the motion capture play things and started doing more straight-up screen performances; his animated face-acting is always a scene stealer.Unfortunately there is some duds amongst all the finite work. Misfits' Iwan Rhoen is insufferable as a slang-tastic hoodlum – so much that he even starts to annoy his co-stars. Newcomer Liz White's turn as an abused call girl is too flippant and lacks character depth. The biggest disappointment comes from Wild Bill himself. Sublime as a drugged-up Billy incarnate in Gary Oldman's Nil by Mouth, he is too emotionally uncharged throughout.Evenstill, it's still a brilliant debut from Fletcher. Working on film sets since the young age of ten when he played Baby Face in Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone, he clearly has a deep insight of how to craft a story, shoot a scene and carve out some solid performances. All that, plus a great ska fever soundtrack and the best pub-fight sequence since Shaun of the Dead. It's as good as a gangster film can get. Let's hope he puts down the faux-Burberry scarves and trade them in for invigorated, ambitious new material.Read more reviews now at www.366movies.com

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