Ever wondered what Brighton Rock mixed with Quadrophenia with a touch of Godfather would be like? No, neither have I so quite why we have this frankly weird mixture is a mystery. Whats not so enigmatic is the result its a mess.
Director Rowan Joffe (son of The Mission and Killing Fields helmer, Roland Joffe) has updated Graham Greenes classic tale of psychosis, seediness and violence and set it in 1964, the year of the mods and rockers Bank Holiday riots on the south coast. Pinkie (Riley) is a weedy member of a gang offering protection to the newly-legal betting shops. There is a rival gang in town however, and the film begins with a violent confrontation on the beachfront at night. Pinkie, twice, lacks the bottle for the fight, but when he is cut across the face he changes, hunts down his attacker and beats him to death under the pier.
There is, however, a witness the fragile, shy, awkward Rose, who holds a slip for the photo of the dead man. Pinkie callously seduces her to keep her quiet, and he seems to have got away with the murder. However he is up against two more enemies, Colleoni (Serkis), the head of the mob who may be prepared to do a deal, and the much more frightening Ida (Mirren), Roses kindly, determined employer and friend of the dead man. She can sense Pinkie is a wrong un, and is determined to get him.
Its such an iconic story and the original 1947 film still looks so good, so do we need an updating of it? The answer is no, virtually everything about this version is wrong. The main problem seems to be the casting, especially Riley. So good in Control, here he is playing a baby-faced psycho but Riley is neither. Too weedy to be physically threatening, and too good-looking, its a wrong-footed performance. When he mods up, gets onto a scooter and rides along the seafront were suddenly in Quadrophenia country, but the device presumably to hide Pinkies violence under the backdrop of the riots just doesnt work.
In the book Ida is a brave, determined, lonely and physically plain woman Mirren is clearly none of these. Far too brassy and glamorous, squeezed into a series of eye-catching outfits, her accent is irritating. Her accomplice, John Hurt as a bookie owner, is similarly off-key, and Serkis, as the Corleoni-style mob boss is just weird his meeting with Ida is way too polite and lacks any undercurrent.
The one exception to all of this is Riseborough as Rose. Originally it was going to be Carey Mulligan, which would have meant a clean sweep of wrong casting she is far too cocky and cheeky for the part but Riseborough is just perfect. Pale, plain and constantly groping for her national health specs, but with a totally believable heart of gold, its a brilliant performance that makes everything around her seem even more out of kilter. Her pathetic devotion to Pinkie makes sense, his physical revulsion and Catholic guilt are never adequately expressed. She clearly is a talent to watch, but will hopefully have better chances than this misfire.
Overall verdict: Update of a British classic which gets just about everything wrong. Its a BBC film and really should have stayed on the small screen.
Reviewer: Mike Martin