For the most part this film is enjoyable, but sadly it's let down by it's indecisiveness. It cannot seem to decide what it wants to be - a brutal gangster flick or a comedy of errors. It ends up being a mixture of the two, but the brutality and the comedy do not make comfortable bed-fellows. A good example would be a scene where a thug is tearing the jugular out of a guy's neck with his teeth in an upstairs bathroom, while downstairs 3 gangsters are mincing around in aprons and marigolds. The film would have benefited massively from the humour being toned down. Also some of the cast seem to treating it like a project, and are hamming it up to ridiculous levels. Ray Winstone is the guiltiest, and loses any menace his gangland boss character may have acquired by giggling hysterically like a schoolgirl at a Twilight premier or laying the cock-er-ney slang on so thick that it comes across like a sketch from a Harry Enfield comedy. Sean Pertwee can also share his guilt. There are however some redeeming qualities to the film, the story moves along briskly, the soundtrack is wonderful and you're never short changed from quality performers like Kathy Burke, Rhys Ifans or Trevor Laird. An average film.
Review of Love, Honor and Obey
