While I had heard nothing but average and - at times - really bad feedback about this film, still could not believe that Graham Greene's original and powerful tale of razor gangs in post war Brighton, with its' rich characters and meditations on Good and Evil / Heaven and Hell, could possibly be THAT bad. Can a film that boasts some excellent character actors really be that dodgy?
They answer to both of these questions is Yes, it can be THAT bad and Yes, even with a good cast, it can be dodgy.
There is something here (and I can't quite put my finger on it) that brought back memories of some English film making from the 1980s, films that weren't that great to begin with and now are almost unwatchable. It is a particular style that screams SURFACE (Post modernity has a lot to answer for) and this does.
Look I realise that comparing a re-make with an original film (or a book to a film for that matter) is a pointless exercise. From my perspective they are different texts which should be judged on their own merits, HOWEVER: it would be remiss of me not to suggest getting a copy of the original 'Brighton Rock' - Hell! (Pardon the pun) Get the Book! Then you will know just how much depth this film chose to omit.
For some reason the entire story has been set in 1964 - and for no reason whatsoever we get to watch lots of extras dressed as Mods and Rockers, although why they bothered when a cut and paste job from Quadrophenia would have done nicely. I was looking out for the Ace Face as the 'Bell Boy' outside the posh Hotel. .....and it is 1960s done very Austin Powers to boot. As I said: post modern surfaces keep bouncing anything that matters off the screen.
Why this was not set in the immediate Post World War 2 era is odd. The characters, the story line all inhabit this earlier period, none of it 'fits' in the 1960s theme park on offer here.
Another reviewer here was spot on with a glaring historical inaccuracy as well: Where Rose lives in the council flat is made to look rundown and shabby, those flats were BRAND NEW at the time the film is set. In fact most of the high rise flats were not built until later in the 1960s. Do a quick Google search and you will find that people were invariably impressed with the shining new kitchens and bathrooms in the council flats when they were first built. Also, at the end when Rose is in the unmarried mothers home - yes I know these places were not nice in England at the time, but they were not the Magdalene laundries of Ireland, which is what the film makers seem to be alluding to.
I did manage to get through it, but did press the fast forward button on several occasions. It managed to be boring, seriously boring.
A good rule of thumb in a film is to see how much direction the Extras got. Watch out for Pinkie grabbing Rose and yanking her down the Pier. Extras do not even look - and people would look, glance or maybe even stare. But no! They just carry on with their 'rhubarb rhubarb' chattiness. It might sound like a minor thing, but it is these 'little things' which contribute to the shallowness of the entire film.
Usually I remember cinematography - there is always something that is amazing, well usually. But I've drawn a blank.
Odd film. Not in a good way.
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