Bullet Boy (2004)

Director:

Saul Dibb

Writers:

Saul Dibb (writer)
Catherine Johnson (writer)

Release Date:

8 April 2005 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Pray... They may be your last words...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Black British | Dawn Raid | Ghetto | Prison

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Leon Black	...	Wisdom
Chris Callendar	...	Ricky's Soliciter
Dora Clouttick
Louise Delamere	...	Probation Officer
Luke Fraser	...	Curtis
Des Hamilton	...	School Teacher
Martin Heathcote	...	CID Officer (credit only)
Gary Henry	...	Randal Cue
Sid Karne	...	Gang Member
Clark Lawson	...	Godfrey
Claire Perkins	...	Beverely
Sharea-mounira Samuels	...	Shea
Greg Tanner	...	Police Officer / SO19 Officer
Rio Tison	...	Rio
Jadiel Vitalis	...	Meadow
Curtis Walker	...	Leon
Ashley Walters	...	Ricky
Sylvester Williams	...	Neville
Jaime Winstone	...	Natalie

Also Known As:

The Boys (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, a strong sex scene, language and some drug use.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | USA:R | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Hackney, London, England, UK

Company:

BBC Films

Trivia:

Shot largely within one square mile on the edge of Hackney.

A kid with a good heart but a rough past gets out of prison only to find trouble back home.

The most immediate thing that struck me about this film was it's perfect imitation of life - unbelievably believable, this move was EXACTLY like life is like, the accents perfect, the language appropriate, the whole story fantastic. I agree that if you do not live in London or at least have contact to the underground world you may not understand the movie very well, but rest assured this is a milestone in a whole genre of English ghetto movies - if you've seen the film 'Juice' starring Tupac Shakur you'll see a lot of connections in structure and plot but at the end of the day it's a unique, brilliant, enjoyable and in my opinion, perfect film.

The actors are all skilled to the point where there acting is flawless - the 'bad guy' is not a generic evil psychotic skitzo, but rather just a down to earth nasty person. The hero, Ashley Waters, is lovable, conflicting and effortlessly cool as the friend, Wisdom, is both loyal but annoying at times (just like real friends can be!). The mother is loving and over protective (but not in a boring way, rather a sympathy evoking way which works excellently as she tries soooo hard to hide her pain) and the brother and his friend are both lovable and cool as well. A great film, on par with any Americano film, this is up there with Snatch, Lock Stock, Layer Cake and Trainspotting - it's different from all of them, but it is about crime and it is set in the slums of London, but rest assured it's original because I can't shake the feeling that stuff like this happens every day - even if it is a fascinating tale of revenge, deceit, horror and love. Ten stars! Go see now!