Essex Boys (2000)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Terry Winsor

Writers:

Jeff Pope (written by) and
Terry Winsor (written by)

Release Date:

14 July 2000 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Some lines should never be crossed.

Plot:

The film is based loosely around events in December 1995 that culminated in the murders of three drug dealers in Rettendon...

Plot Keywords:

Drug Dealer | Red Bra | Shot To Death | Sex Scene | Female Frontal Nudity

Cast

Charlie Creed-Miles	...	Billy Reynolds
Sean Bean	...	Jason Locke
Gareth Milne	...	Chippy
Alex Kingston	...	Lisa Locke
Amelia Lowdell	...	Nicole
Larry Lamb	...	Peter Chase
Michael McKell	...	Wayne Lovell
Holly Davidson	...	Suzy Welch
Terence Rigby	...	Henry Hobbs
Tom Wilkinson	...	John Dyke
Billy Murray	...	Perry Elley
George Jackos	...	Kiri Christos
Sally Hurst	...	Beverley
Louise Landon	...	Jemma
Gary Love	...	Detective

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language, sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Singapore:M18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Essex, England, UK

Company:

Granada Film Productions

Quotes:

[Jason has just beaten up a suspected grass, kidnapped him and thrown acid in his face, getting some on his own shirt. He and Billy have driven him to a muddy river bank and left him there, screaming in agony]
Billy Reynolds: [voiceover] And that was that. Job done. Jason needed a new shirt - and the geezer needed a new face!

Soundtrack:

Butterfly

A good film on several levels.

A good film on several levels. The unflattering comparisons that some critics have made between it and The Usual Suspects are completely misguided as directorial intent and effect in the two pictures are dissimilar. Winsor's film, it seems to me, brilliantly evokes both the drabness and cruelty of the criminal mindset. It does this partly through the choice of dull, flat Essex landscapes with their coastal marshes, grey motorway links, flash nouveau riche mansions and the tawdry glamour of seafront locations. The characters are both repellent and yet curiously mesmerising. This is not a film in which it is easy to lose interest. Nobody can do psycho-thug better than Sean Bean, and Charlie Creed-Miles has created a dangerously weak character as Billy, whom it is almost possible to feel sorry for without actually liking. The film is very well lit, though I did find sound levels a little dodgy at times It's a film that, despite critics' comments, is not a million miles from Get Carter in quality.