Extras:
Trailer, TV Spot, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Director's Commentary
Director:
Malcolm Needs
(Charlie, Shoreditch)
Producers:
Tim Ireland and Malcolm Needs
Screenplay:
Malcolm Needs
Music:
Andy Humphries
Cast:
Charlie Richardson: Luke Goss
Charlie Richardson Snr: Steven Berkoff
Richard Waldeck: Leslie Grantham
Charlie's Mum: Anita Dobson
Van Den Bergh: Marius Weyers
Jean Le Grange: Nicole Sherwin
Richard Aubury: Douglas McFerran
Eddie Richardson: Langley Kirkwood
Defence Brief: Jeroen Kranenburg
Cyril Green: Mark Arden
Frankie Fraser: Chris Curran
Himself: James Whale
Man in pub: Charlie Richardson
Charlie Richardson
was an East-end gangster who spent his time on the planet with people like the Krays
and 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, as well as other cockney wanker low-lifes who aimed to
control who and what they liked, often succeeding.
Told in flashback about the heinous crimes committed by Charlie and his associates in
a court that became known as the "Torture Trial", we're introduced to the scams carried out,
such as moving in on a car-parking lot that charges a full day's fee, yet dumps the cars
on a local farm for the majority of the day, Charlie and his father make a killing on a
scrap metal deal with a bounced cheque and he also sets up a fake company buying and selling
white goods for a few months until a firm trusts him enough to put future goods on account,
and then fleece them for as much as you can.
Various baddies have actors portraying them, such as Frankie Fraser and Roy Hall, to do 'vox pop'
interviews to camera about what a nice, helpful person Charlie was. Well, they'll try and stick
together won't they? (for as long as it suits them)
Luke Goss is the best thing about this film, coming across very well as a hard-as-nails gangster,
compared to most of the rest on show, and for the soap audience this is the first time in a long time,
unless you count ITV's three-years-delayed "80s Mania" show, that we've seen the Eastenders
pairing of Anita Dobson, in flashback as Charlie's mother, and balding internet pervert Leslie
Grantham, in the '60s where the majority of the film it set, as Richard Waldeck who has a great deal
to make a fortune that Charlie can't refuse.
Charlie looks good and is well-shot with nice slo-mo moments, but it's just not that interesting.
It's let down by sloppy writing, from the same man who directed this, which cuts between two many
different scenarios as new witnesses come to the stand, and so we don't see anything substantial really
followed through, and just makes it look more like an occasional repeat of
The Krays
but with not much inbetween.
It's watchable, but it's not a keeper.
It's also worth noting that the director's previous film to this, Shoreditch, was the one
that cost £6m to make, including £500,000 of star Shane Richie's money, was
screened in two London cinemas for one week only and clawed back just £2,272 of its budget
in takings, making it one of the costliest flops around. This one did better than that, but nowhere
near broke-even.
The film
is presented in the original cinema ratio of 1.85:1 and is anamorphic,
looking very crisp and colourful throughout where required, as well as looking dismal and
foreboding in the courtroom, and evoking the period of the 1960s very well. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound isn't greatly used, except perhaps for musical tunes from the era, but
that's about it.
For extras, there's a 75-second Trailer (16:9 anamorphic), a 30-second TV spot
in the same ratio, three Deleted Scenes (4½ mins) also in 16:9 anamorphic but of
varying quality and in the last one, an alternate ending, the sound disappears halfway through!
Six little Outtakes (7 mins, with most in 16:9 anamorphic, the rest in letterbox format),
which show a humourous side to Luke Goss, with optional director's commentary and a feature-length
director's commentary conclude this section.
There are 16 chapters, English subtitles only, and an animated main menu which is scored,
but if you're considering watching this and don't celebrate the world of the '60s East-end thug,
then make it a rental first.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
