Jack Said (2009)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Yet another cheapo British gangster flick...yawn. This one stars Danny Dyer (surprise!)as a bit of a cockney rebellious rogue..or should that be webellious wogue. It all seems to take place in a warehouse..even the scenes in someone's flat.The characters have names like "the fixer", "the guvnor" and even the rival gang are called "the other side gang". Its like watching children playing at gangster stories..and about as believable.Simon Phillips is an unconvincing action hero to say the least and the baddies all have bald heads cockney accents and long black overcoats.Ashlie Walker overacts but that might because the rest of the cast are so wooden.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Undercover cop Jack Adleth (Simon Phillips) is deep into the world of gangland London and has formed a bit too close a relationship with Nathan (Danny Dyer) a loose cannon crook who steals quite a bit of money from gang boss's daughter Natalie (Ashlie Walker.) When he's interrogated for information by Natalie who thinks he's helping hide Nathan, Jack ends up making 'amends' by being Natalie's puppet, performing whatever gangland chore she wants. But a blossoming relationship with Nathan's sister provides the only shining light in his increasingly grim life as everything builds up to end in chaos.The 'graphic novel' craze arrives straight to DVD, with a project that's been glammed up like one of the more successful entries, Sin City. In parts it tries to capture the film noir feel a lot of these movies try to capture but the outcome feels more pretentious than successful. Sadly, Jack Said just isn't exciting or tense enough to work. While it's all done competently enough, the story feels wavey and all over the place and just doesn't leave the impression it could have. Such a shame considering the talent involved, including Dyer, Phillips and familiar face Terry Stone in a supporting role. And I've only just learned it's actually a sequel, which only means I can only wonder what came before it. **

I am so so disappointed in this film. This had unbelievably bad acting (much of this blame must go to the director, who, after watching the dailies, must have seen what i saw? I say this because the actors (some of whom i've seen in other films - Terry Stone was quite good in Rise Of The Footsoldier) are not bad but the acting was. The lead character is too porky to be a convincing lead man in this type of role and the female gangster's 'I'm from Lahndon, me' accent was atrocious. The continuity errors were pretty outstanding too with photos being put into one pocket, only to miraculously appear in another, minutes after receiving it. I have sadly had to give this a one star rating as it's a case of been there seen that, but executed in a much much better way.

I saw this last night at the cinema and I'm glad it's out on DVD soon as I'm going to get it and watch it again. I thought for an independent low-budget feature, this was a considerably impressive effort. It may not have the money of Sin City – which is clearly an influence for the graphic novels and the films – but they have worked with whatever they had to achieve great production values.The opening is a massive nod to its graphic novel roots before bringing us into a slightly more recognisable setting but still retaining its noir elements. Scot Simon Phillips is perfectly cast as the everyman-leading man. It's a nice touch that the "name" in the film, Danny Dyer, supports here rather than leads and the predominantly un-famous cast means that we're seeing characters rather than actors laying characters. That said, the two big names, Dyer and David O'Hara, put in often scene-stealing appearances.Larger that-life in some parts, the characters are clearly based on the graphic novel approach where everything can be in your face, and it works. Ashlie Walker impresses as the sexy psycho seeking to usurp Daddy and Terry Stone is a combination of menacing and funny as the Guv'nor's second in command, 'The Fixer'. It's also impressive that we've finally seen a British gangster film with very strong female characters. Rebecca Keatley and Rita Ramnani provide the "good" to Walkers "bad" and achieve convincingly naturalistic performances.There are certainly elements of other gangster and noir films. References to the Big Combo, Reservoir Dogs, Sin City, Pulp Fiction and Get Carter abound, but nothing seems lifted, more occasionally treading were others have already tread (thought this isn't always a bad thing). The plot's MacGuffin – a box with mysterious and never-explained contents – is a film staple seen in Ronin and Pulp Fiction, but this is merely a device to propel events forward. The voice-over is of course classic noir – but it's refreshing to hear it as we see London streets rather than American ones.I can't think of another British film that has even attempted noir in recent years, let alone adapting elements from a graphic novel, and this is a very worthy effort.