The Hot Potato (2011)

London's East End 1969. Based on real events. Two chancers 'find' a lump of Uranium and crisscross Europe to find a buyer. Accompanied by Danny's girl,the lovely Carole. They encounter a ... See full summary »

Director:

Tim Lewiston

Writer:

Tim Lewiston

Stars:

Ray Winstone, Colm Meaney, Jack Huston

Cast

Credited cast:
Ray Winstone	...	Kenny
Colm Meaney	...	Harry
Jack Huston	...	Danny
David Harewood	...	Harrison
John Lynch	...	Bill
Philip Davis	...	Sgt Ryan
Derren Nesbitt	...	Fritz Meyer
Lois Winstone	...	Carole
Maike Billitis	...	Claudia
Jean-Louis Sbille	...	Ernst Koppel
Louise Redknapp	...	Irene Smith
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rene Arnaut-Vanderhaeghen	...	Ari
Eddie Brindle	...	Danny's Workmate
Gary Fairhall	...	Albert
Mark Joseph	...	Chris Fisher

Storyline

London's East End 1969. Based on real events. Two chancers 'find' a lump of Uranium and crisscross Europe to find a buyer. Accompanied by Danny's girl,the lovely Carole. They encounter a diverse cast of bizarre characters, all trying to steal the 'Hot Potato', but a deal agreed inside the Vatican has the co-conspirators confounding each other. The story twists and turns to an exciting and unexpected finale.

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Plot Keywords:

dark humor | caper | gangster | 1960s | black comedy

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2011 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium

Box Office

Budget:

£6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wardour Pictures, uFilm, Perpetual Media Capital

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"All You Need"
Written by Maria Byrne
Published by MD Records (2010)
Performed by Maria Byrne

User Reviews

Feeble...

The premise for this so-called 60's style Brit caper sounded intriguing...except that only Ray Winstone has any sort of character or charisma.

Where the likes of Terry Thomas and Peter Sellers had oodles of fizz and bang and entertained us, when the script was a dud, this is just a dud all round. The other characters - and their actors I've already forgotten, ten minutes after it's finished. They might as well been office furniture for all their presence and acting.

The script is obvious and rather boring as we now know all about Plutonium - it has no excitement value whatsoever. The movie seemed to have the budget of a TV pilot 'special' - it's so obviously struggling that it's rather embarrassing. The direction, too, is particularly feeble, without any panache or style whatsoever.

I've been generous with my 3/10. It's not going to be too awful for those that might buy the DVD if they have a good idea of what sort of movie they're getting but for most Hot Potato is a waste of time and effort. And, yes, I do enjoy and own many of the old genuine 60's films on DVD - Too Many Crooks, for example - brilliant! Buy that instead!