Junkhearts (2011)
6/10
Gritty but slightly disappointing...
16 September 2012
Quite well made on a low budget; I did like the use of visual effects though, focus, the use of close-ups and lighting mostly, but quite effective. The performances were all pretty good; I found Eddie Marsan quite believable as Frank and Tom Sturridge was suitably intimidating as Danny. Newcomer Candese Reid as pretty good as Lynette although I'd like to see more of her work before I make a judgement on this performance. Finally there's Romola Garai who plays Christine, another character, more of her in a moment, she was pretty good also.

An interesting film with two parallel story lines; one involving Frank and Lynette and the other involving a well-heeled woman called Christine. She is a single mother with a young daughter; she's seeing a married man and her mother is taken ill. The thing is we don't see anything more about Christine until quite near the end of the film. I found myself wondering just what was the point of showing us those little fragments of her and then nothing more for about and hour (or so it seemed). But back to Frank; I guess I was hoping for a film along the lines of the rather excellent 'Harry Brown', but sadly not to be. Although there are parallels, this one doesn't take the same course and (I felt) it suffered because of it. It does have some good points though but be prepared to be a tad disappointed by the end.

SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDED (Just)

My score: 6.0/10

You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.
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