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serpico.multima
Reviews
Downtime (1997)
'Die Hard' meets Ken Loach meets a poorly realized Nike commercial
Mr Nalluri may well have seen this film as his shoo in on the Hollywood big time, but his inability to direct actors (as opposed to "great action sequences") puts him in the queue behind all the other explosion-meisters (a beard, baseball cap and movie logo bomber jacket are also required for this 80's derivative member's club).
The film's rather flimsy premise - drug-fuelled thugs wreek havoc on the occupants of a Newcastle tower block - could be seen as a brave attempt to couple Loachian observation with the action movie genre, but it's simply a rather crass attempt to add gritty realism to a juvenile plot.
Paul McGann tries his best under the circumstances (as does Tom Georgeson), but the actors take second place in this film... The lift gets all the 'best' scenes.
'Downtime' was hailed as a calling card for one of Britain's exciting young directors. I think Mr Nalluri needs to get out more.