Hard Men (1996)

Director:

J.K. Amalou

Writer:

J.K. Amalou

Stars:

Layla Aldridge, Victoria Bensted, Ross Boatman

Cast

Credited cast:
Layla Aldridge	...	Girl at Bar
Victoria Bensted	...	Night Club Hostess 1
Ross Boatman	...	Bear
Keith Brown	...	John
Rocky Byron	...	Pimp 1
Dallas Campbell	...	Maltese's Boyfriend
Ken Campbell	...	Mr. Ross
Biba Caprez	...	Tone's Child (2 years)
Emma Caprez	...	Tone's Wife
Mark Channon	...	Hardstore Shop Assistant
Min Clifford	...	Waitress
Stuart Jason Cole	...	Winston
Eamonn Collinge	...	The Maltese
Mirella D'Angelo	...	Chantal
Alec Ewe	...	Chrystal - Transvestite Hostess 1

Storyline

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Taglines:

You Call. They Deliver. It Ain't Pizzas.

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Genres:

Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive strong language, drug use and some sexuality

Details

Country:

UK France

Release Date:

28 February 1997 (UK)

Also Known As:

Skliroi antres

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dacia Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Promising, but ultimately disappointing

A firecracker of a film, except that it was exposed to dampness for too long and fails to ignite. The premise is appealing enough: a 3-man gang of East London thugs do the business for the guvnor, one "sees the light" and wants out, the others get the order to eradicate him for whatever reasons. Tension, action, exploration of a conscience-troubled character would all seem to be laid out against the backbone of the plot to make for riveting viewing. However, what we get is a clumsy, crude, badly reworked mish-mash of other films, mainly plagiarising the Quentin chap. The jokes are frankly not funny and the dialogue so depressingly unimaginative. Bad language may add to authenticity, but (unless you write like Roddy Doyle) is not the key to belly laughs. "Hard Men" wavers between wanting to be uncompromising in its violence and wanting to please all by brightening things with colourful characters. Violent it certainly is, but the attempts at humour derail the carriage, leaving the viewer with a feeling of disappointment at what could have been, given tighter scripting, better actors, an engaging score and greater focus. "Lock, Stock ..." is a long way ahead of this in all stakes.