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38 reviews in total

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71 out of 84 people found the following review useful:
Not bad....could have been a lot better., 21 April 2007

Author: barrow-5 from United Kingdom

Saw a preview of this last night. Still not completely sure what I made of it to be honest. It's a very short film at only 1 hour and twenty minutes and despite this it still feels a little padded as though there wasn't enough story to make it long enough to be a feature film. The key scenes are graphic and harrowing enough and I definitely left with a bad taste in my mouth. Gillian Anderson was probably the best thing about the film but I don't really buy Danny Dyer playing opposite her and there were certain scenes that were unintentionally humorous because of this. Dyer has definitely been a little miscast here and it does make you wonder whether it could have been better with a different leading man. The other problem I have with a film of this type is that in order for you to care about the plight of characters I believe you need at least a little insight into their lives prior to what we are seeing on screen, we need to know about who they are in order to root for them and I never really felt this film gave us the big picture in this regard. Despite it's flaws it's still a watchable drama/thriller but with a few more original ideas and a little added characterisation it could have been a whole lot better.

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71 out of 89 people found the following review useful:
Almost skeletal in its simplicity, and misunderstood for it., 4 May 2007

Author: SiRGadaBout from United Kingdom

Having read the 5 other comments before preparing my own, it seems that not having witnessed either Danny Dyer or Gillian Anderson in a movie role before (or in any role in the case of Dyer) landed me in a better position to appreciate this film. However, not having a petrified heart would appear to have helped also. I enjoyed this film. I'm not saying it was fantastic, but it merited my attention and had something important to say. First and foremost, it was a film designed to challenge the viewer's (in)ability to sympathize with his fellow – take as an example the statement made by lenemorissette-1 in the 3rd paragraph of their comment on this film: "Alice isn't the kind of woman who courts sympathy either." Somehow, Alice's conceit, bitterness and dissatisfaction with a materially-satisfactory lifestyle is enough to render her unworthy of sympathy after being raped. And then there's Archie McLaren's IMDb comment on this film, describing how he and the audience laughed through Dyer's assault. This brings us on to why the film appeared to lack characterization - not because of a failing by those responsible for the screenplay, but because by leaving the characters so skeletal, it left them capable of representing a larger demographic. Essentially, Alice and Adam were an attempt to represent as many people as possible. Hipp Dude said in his IMDb comment on this film, "it was brutally real and honest, very un- Hollywood." You don't get fairer than that.

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70 out of 88 people found the following review useful:
At times a bit to real., 29 April 2007

Author: hipp_dude from United Kingdom

Quite a short feature film, although you do not actually notice this when watching. Great to see Gillian Anderson on screen again, and to be honest i would not have predicted this role for her however she was well cast.

Personally i quite enjoyed the slightly comedic satire that ran through some of the scenes, and i think Danny Dyer helped with this. It is hard to tell if the film would have maybe been stronger with a different leading male, but then Dyer plays the 'male struggling with his emasculation.

Definitely lacking depth, i left wishing i had known exactly what happens with Anderson's character and her father, along with simply wishing i knew Dyer's character better.

Some uncomfortable scenes which i felt were not always necessary, although they do help to give the film an edginess that i liked. Basically it was brutally real and honest, very un-Hollywood. I would maybe say rent instead of watching at the cinema.

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46 out of 60 people found the following review useful:
Violent but good, 17 May 2007

Author: miles_brereton from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Straightheads is an excellent movie that was unfairly slated by the critics. I don't understand why they gave this generally negative reviews. It is a real shame because it stopped people from going to the cinema to see it. It's a violent but provocative drama about an assaulted couple tempted by revenge. It's pretty graphic but we see what violence can do to people. There are violence and sex scenes but they are not gratuitous. The performances are quite good and the characters well developed. The chemistry and sexual tension between Alice -Gillian Anderson- and Adam -Danny Dyer- is sizzling hot and quite erotic. Dan Reed -who makes his feature debut with Straightheads- did a very good job. He makes a character study on the after-effects of violence on female and male identity and introduces vengeance into the story. Anthony Calf, playing the bad guy, did an excellent job too. If you want to see a shocking but good film, go for this one and draw your own conclusions!

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27 out of 38 people found the following review useful:
Unrewarding And Empty., 27 September 2007

Author: Mr Saxon from United Kingdom

When Alice (Gillian Anderson), a middle-class businesswoman, meets Adam (Danny Dyer) a working-class surveillance expert, she invites him to a party. Thus begins a night that neither will ever forget. After encountering a group of locals on a country road, a shocking incident takes place that sees Adam lose an eye whilst Alice is brutally raped. Several weeks later, Alice crosses paths with one of their attackers...

I had heard a lot about this movie, although most of what I'd heard revolved around a scene near the end of the film involving Anderson's use of a gun barrel. For the most part, the violence in this movie was implied rather than shown. The rape itself is disturbing although we are treated to not just one showing of it but two (the second time, it is shown through the eyes of Anderson's attacker). This seemed slightly gratuitous to me.

Both of the main leads turn in great performances with special praise going out to Gillian Anderson. In all of the years watching "The X-Files" I never quite imagined that I'd see her in as powerful a role as this. It seems a shame then that they don't have any chemistry together. They just weren't convincing as two people who fell in lust with one another in the space of a few hours.

After the horror of the first act, the movie doesn't seem to know what to do with itself. We see the two victims planning their revenge (initiated by an extraordinary coincidence) and trying to come to terms with what has happened to them. However, there isn't really any substance to these scenes. Their planning of revenge simply consists of creeping around spying on their attackers, and the scenes in which they try to deal with their anguish don't work either as both characters aren't given enough depth for us to care about them.

The final scenes seem to come out of nowhere and are carried out in such a way that they're not satisfying to the audience. One of the bad guys suddenly gives a sympathetic story about why he did what he did - are we now meant to agree he had no other choice? One of the victims suddenly feels regret about what is happening to the attackers. Are we supposed to now feel the same? If there is an intended message, it isn't at all clear.

Ultimately this movie is a hollow experience. It doesn't engage the audience as it should and doesn't appear to know what exactly it's trying to say.

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22 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
More thought-provoking than your typical "rape/revenge" fare., 30 September 2007

Author: ThrownMuse from The land of the Bunyips

A wealthy businesswoman (Gillian Anderson) and her newly acquired working class lover (Danny Dyer) are viciously attacked while on a drive the woods. Afterwards, the only thing the woman can think of is revenge, and she calculates a plan to fulfill that. This is an intriguing modern-day "rape/revenge" thriller that focuses more on psychology and gender (as well as other social constructs) instead of the violence and action sequences that typically go hand-in-hand with the subgenre. That said, rape/revenge fans most likely won't be disappointed with this one, as it's fairly brutal and shocking. It's a little short, clocking in just over 70 minutes, so by the end I thought to myself, "is that all there is?" Yet the film did have something of an impact on me, because I found myself thinking about it all the next day and recommending it to friends. Gillian Anderson is excellent and does things you would never in a million years think you'd see Gillian Anderson do on-screen. I'll leave it at that. Danny Dyer also gives a fantastic dramatic performance. I'm not sure why he gets such a bad rap in the UK. He isn't quite famous in the States yet, but he's great in the few films I've seen him in. Thumbs up on this thought-provoking thriller, though I can't help feeling there's a chunk of the film missing.

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11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Reasonable, interesting but somewhat flawed Brit revenge movie, 11 September 2008

Author: t-birkhead from United Kingdom

I saw this last night and it kept my attention throughout as well as providing some entertainment, but it is definitely a bit disappointing. The plot is simple, Gillian Anderson picks up Danny Dyer as company for a party, the two are attacked, Anderson is raped and they want revenge. Its a formula premise, used to perfection in some of the finest older exploitation movies, but this doesn't come near to the better known outings in the genre. The writing is what really hurts the film. Though the story, the character development and the general progression of the movie is well done, most of the times any of the characters open their mouths, what comes out just seems really off. Its a shame to see the actors grappling with the stilted lines and they all do their best but much of the dialogue just doesn't work and comes off as lame and irritating. The acting is great for the most part, with Danny Dyer giving the best performance I have seen from him as the initially reluctant Adam and Gillian Anderson is truly superb as the more readily vengeful Alice. In fact her performance is among the greatest acting I have ever seen in a rape revenge based movie. Anthony Calf does well as the instigator of the attack and the rest are decent too. Its just a shame about the dialogue. Dan Reed directs nicely for the most part, there's a grim, depressing but realistic feel to the film and the opening attack is non graphic but suitably harsh. Unfortunately the ending is abrupt and not too satisfying, and while the film is clearly trying to avoid redemption through violence clichés, there is a one gleefully unsubtle and exploitative moment that rather undermines this intention. Altogether the film is well made and probably worth a watch for fans of this sort of thing, presenting as it does a surprisingly intelligent depiction of the trauma that violence causes and the psychologically warping effects of getting into the revenge mindset. However the abundance of clunky lines plus the nastier moments and lack of subtlety stop this from working too well as intelligent stuff, while it doesn't really pass muster as exploitation. Falling between these two stools, its basically a reasonable misfire.

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17 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
this is not a Straw Dogs, 17 September 2007

Author: darnmay from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Straightheads 2007

Gillian Anderson gives an excellent performance. Her emotions, following the brutal ordeal of her character, are too realistic for comfort. You are compelled to feel revulsion at her plight, and can understand her cry for revenge.

The effects on the couple's relationships, and how they individually perceive revenge is a strong part of the storyline, as is how they both deal with the realisation that 'Revenge is sweet'.

Danny Dyer portrays his character fairly effectively and the mood change towards the end is quite effective, but Gillian Anderson outshines him.

Anthony Calf, who plays the instigator of the brutal rape, puts in a good performance and when he explains to his victim why he felt forced to do what he did, you could almost, but not quite, feel sorry for him.

The Director, Dan Reed, is no stranger to awards for his work. But, these have been for current affairs and social and political documentaries. This thriller is completely different, and appears to be out of his comfort zone. Much more could have been done to enhance the experience that the film could have given.

The advertising says this is 'Straw Dogs' for the next generation. But regretfully this film comes nowhere near Straw Dogs.

Darnmay

September 2007

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11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
An Eye for an Eye (Literally), 11 July 2008

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

After the installation of an alarm system by the twenty-three year old low-class Adam (Danny Dyer) in her fancy upper class apartment, the sophisticated owner Alice (Gillian Anderson) invites him to go with her in her boss' "opening house" boring party in the countryside. Adam dates Alice and has a dream night in the fashionable party inclusive having sex with her. While driving back home in a lonely cobblestone road in the middle of the night, Alice hits a moose and the couple parks the car to remove the wounded animal from the road. However, a van stops and a gang brutally assaults Adam and rapes Alice. One month later, Adam is impotent with Alice, has awful scars in his face and a blind eye and the traumatized Alice returns to her work. However, she is informed that her father has passed away and she travels back to the countryside to visit her father's home. While driving back home, she meets one of her rapist by chance and she discovers where he lives. Alice meets Adam and convinces him to come with her to take revenge against the violent man.

"Closure" is a weird movie, with a promising premise wasted in an awful and pointless screenplay. The story begins with an absolutely poor development of the lead characters: who is upper-middle class Alice; what is her profession; and how is her relationship the "alarm guy" Adam? I understand that they might have had a past since Alice has a suit that fits perfectly in Adam; otherwise she is simply a woman seeking for one night stand. In the story, Alice is a tough character seeking revenge while Adam is weak; however, the situation reverts in the end, and Adam's attitude is totally plausible and believable; but Alice seems to feel sorry and sympathy for the violent rapist and the whole plot becomes senseless and pointless. In my opinion, Dan Reed lost the opportunity to make a great revenge movie like, for example, Neil Jordan's "The Brave One" of the same year (2007) is. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

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11 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
I'll be STRAIGHT with you..., 19 January 2008

Author: anxietyresister from United Kingdom

To call Straightheads the best Danny Dyer film I've seen is to damn with faint praise. In my humble opinion, the guy cannot act. He just stands there and growls his lines, and you think: how the hell does this guy get plum roles in so many British films? Photogenic he may be, but when it comes to performing, he is never less than completely pants. At least Gillian Anderson is on hand to lend proceedings a touch of class, but the guy is still a millstone hanging around the neck of this thriller/drama.

Alice is a thirty-something worker who is having a security system fitted in her house. She decides to take the 23 year old installer Adam out to a party she is attending, and while there she makes out with him against a tree. On the return journey however, our loving couple make the mistake of angering a van full of psychos in an extreme case of road rage. This ends up in Adam being grievously injured, and Alice being raped. A month later, they are still recovering from the events of the day. But then, Alice finds out the identity of one of the attackers. Adam is quite happy to let sleeping dogs lie, but Alice, armed with this new information wants revenge. And being the daughter of an ex-soldier has distinct advantages...

You'll probably go into this 18 rated film with hopes of experiencing a few nice gory and brutal scenes. In which case, it won't disappoint... their are beating with huge spanners, dogs being shot and unspeakable acts done utilising the point of a huge rifle. OUCH! It doesn't outstay its welcome either, at a meagre running time of just 76 minutes. Hmm, wonder what the deleted scenes were like? However, due to the lack of any sympathetic characters, unbelievable plot developments and the usual Dyer (ha ha) acting by you-know-who I can't quite recommend it. 5/10 it is then. Never mind mate, you'll only improve. Maybe...

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