Circus (2000)

Bruno, a sadistic criminal, wants clever con man Leo out of the way. Leo and his equally clever wife, Lily, are up to something. So too is Julius: he hires Leo to kill Gloria, Julius's wife... See full summary »

Director:

Rob Walker

Writer:

David Logan

Stars:

John Hannah, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Hannah	...	Leo
Famke Janssen	...	Lily
Peter Stormare	...	Julius
Eddie Izzard	...	Troy
Fred Ward	...	Elmo
Brian Conley	...	Bruno
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister	...	Moose (as Tiny Lister)
Amanda Donohoe	...	Gloria
Ian Burfield	...	Caspar
Neil Stuke	...	Roscoe
Michael Attwell	...	Magnus
Jason Watkins	...	Dom
Christopher Biggins	...	Arnie
Lucy Akhurst	...	Helen
Louise Rolfe	...	Julie

Storyline

Bruno, a sadistic criminal, wants clever con man Leo out of the way. Leo and his equally clever wife, Lily, are up to something. So too is Julius: he hires Leo to kill Gloria, Julius's wife. Leo does it, but then Julius shows up with the murder on tape, saying Gloria isn't his wife - it's blackmail. Leo's bookie, Troy, is also closing in, wanting to be paid. Bruno and Lily as well as Bruno and Julius have their own scams running, and Leo is their target. Maybe Leo can get Troy off his back, avoid Moose (Bruno's huge enforcer), send Gloria's corpse out of England, turn the tables on Bruno's murderous brother Caspar, and outfox Lily. Or is Lily his fox? It's a three-ring circus.

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Plot Keywords:

brother brother relationship | marriage | wig | con artist | nudity | 

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Taglines:

Don't trust any of these clowns

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Columbia/Tristar UK site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

5 May 2000 (UK)

Also Known As:

Circul

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$8,406 (USA) (15 September 2000)

Gross:

$8,406 (USA) (15 September 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Circus Pictures, Film Development Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fred Ward replaced Frederic Forrest at very short notice

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Quotes

Troy: Nuh, nuh, nuh. Another one bites the dust! Duh-nuh nuh, nuh, nuh. Another one bites the dust! And another one down, another one down- another one bites the dust! Ooh. I'm gunna git you boy, another one bites the dust, DUH-nuh.

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Connections

References The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

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Soundtracks

"There Is A Way"
Written by Alex Heffes
Performed by The Alex Heffes Trio

User Reviews

Poor entrant into the British Gangster drama

Entertaining, but not in the same satisfying way as 'Snatch', 'Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels' or '7ayer Cake'. I love twists, but I can only suspend my disbelief so far.

A hallmark of this genre (invented by Tarrantino?) is to have people with incongruous-to-gangster traits...I guess these connect the audience to otherwise abhorrent killers/thieves. In this regard they were really trying a bit too hard...the bookie Troy who expresses himself with 80s pop songs...the tender yet brutal Moose. To me it seems like these were the result of an engineered effort to create 'Pulp Fiction-' or 'LS&2SB-' like characters.

But I did like Leo's character.