There's an interesting film in here somewhere, but it needs to be thought out a bit more, and rather more subtle. The very crude and lowbrow parts just dominate and make it unable to reach the league that the filmmakers want it to be in - a Danny Boyle film say. It just isn't sophisticated enough at is core for that - partly because it isn't fully written. You can show debauched and shallow characters without sinking to their level. And for a movie supposedly about reality, it just isn't believable.
'Operation Good Guys' gets away with it because of some fine character work from David Gillespie and because it's a comedy. 'Love, Honour and Obey', again is a dark comedy about the violent world of gangsters, so it sort of works. But this is supposed to be a drama about some affluent media types in West London - yet they also act like gangsters, beating up people in restaurants over drug deals, double teaming prostitutes and sticking pool cues up their bottoms for a laugh. It is not believable, and nor is it necessary.
It has nothing intelligent to say about the seediness it depicts, it just is seedy. Indeed, Ray Burdis says in the commentary this is based on a time where the 'Good Guys' group put hidden cameras in the toilet during house parties.
Jude Law is quite charismatic in the film, but the others are basically scenery chewing. The moment that lost me (and it took me over an hour, for my sins) is where (poorly acted) Bill brutally punches a woman just because she wants to leave the video screening. I could not work out why he needed to do that or why we needed to see it. Another thing that puzzles me is surely the friends all knew that Jude was stabbed to death in his own home, so surely they would suspect something was up when the screening was called? They don't act like he was murdered at the start - more like illness or a car accident.
A waste of an opportunity and some great music. Worth a watch if you're a low budget filmmaker and want to know what pitfalls to avoid, or you are a fan of 'Good Guys'.
'Operation Good Guys' gets away with it because of some fine character work from David Gillespie and because it's a comedy. 'Love, Honour and Obey', again is a dark comedy about the violent world of gangsters, so it sort of works. But this is supposed to be a drama about some affluent media types in West London - yet they also act like gangsters, beating up people in restaurants over drug deals, double teaming prostitutes and sticking pool cues up their bottoms for a laugh. It is not believable, and nor is it necessary.
It has nothing intelligent to say about the seediness it depicts, it just is seedy. Indeed, Ray Burdis says in the commentary this is based on a time where the 'Good Guys' group put hidden cameras in the toilet during house parties.
Jude Law is quite charismatic in the film, but the others are basically scenery chewing. The moment that lost me (and it took me over an hour, for my sins) is where (poorly acted) Bill brutally punches a woman just because she wants to leave the video screening. I could not work out why he needed to do that or why we needed to see it. Another thing that puzzles me is surely the friends all knew that Jude was stabbed to death in his own home, so surely they would suspect something was up when the screening was called? They don't act like he was murdered at the start - more like illness or a car accident.
A waste of an opportunity and some great music. Worth a watch if you're a low budget filmmaker and want to know what pitfalls to avoid, or you are a fan of 'Good Guys'.