Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
From the moment that producer Danny Donnelly’s name is plastered all over the opening credits of Victim, it’s probably best not to expect too much, given his previous producing credit on Adam Deacon’s horrid vehicle Payback Season earlier this year. Though it is better-assembled than many similar derivative crime dramas, there’s nothing here we haven’t seen done better elsewhere.
When nice country girl Tia (Ashley Madekwe) comes to stay with her cousin Davina (Anna Nightingale), her kindly, naïve attitude disturbs the indelicate balance of Davina’s life, which primarily involves acting as a distraction while her gang of friends commit robberies. Meanwhile, lad Tyson (Ashley Chin) – who has caught the eye of both Tia and Davina – is trying to escape a life of crime altogether, and inevitably, this tension all comes to a head with unpleasant results.
It tries painfully hard...
From the moment that producer Danny Donnelly’s name is plastered all over the opening credits of Victim, it’s probably best not to expect too much, given his previous producing credit on Adam Deacon’s horrid vehicle Payback Season earlier this year. Though it is better-assembled than many similar derivative crime dramas, there’s nothing here we haven’t seen done better elsewhere.
When nice country girl Tia (Ashley Madekwe) comes to stay with her cousin Davina (Anna Nightingale), her kindly, naïve attitude disturbs the indelicate balance of Davina’s life, which primarily involves acting as a distraction while her gang of friends commit robberies. Meanwhile, lad Tyson (Ashley Chin) – who has caught the eye of both Tia and Davina – is trying to escape a life of crime altogether, and inevitably, this tension all comes to a head with unpleasant results.
It tries painfully hard...
- 6/21/2012
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
“It’s payback season.”
As unbelievable as this sounds when said aloud, this is an actual line from Danny Donnelly’s woefully inadequate cinematic debut.
Kicking off with some rather obvious cutaways of a footballer who clearly isn’t Adam Deacon performing keepy uppy, Payback Season is the story of one young man’s rise from the gutter of inner city London to the glory and glamour of life as a pro footballer.
Jerome Davies (Deacon) has been anointed as the new wunderkind of English football, and as such he’s been rewarded with all of the superficial trappings that go hand in hand with this title. Davies is still keeping it real though, and regularly returns to the estate he grew up on to hang out with his family and friends. While his bona fide family want none of the excess his new life can afford, his blud brothers...
As unbelievable as this sounds when said aloud, this is an actual line from Danny Donnelly’s woefully inadequate cinematic debut.
Kicking off with some rather obvious cutaways of a footballer who clearly isn’t Adam Deacon performing keepy uppy, Payback Season is the story of one young man’s rise from the gutter of inner city London to the glory and glamour of life as a pro footballer.
Jerome Davies (Deacon) has been anointed as the new wunderkind of English football, and as such he’s been rewarded with all of the superficial trappings that go hand in hand with this title. Davies is still keeping it real though, and regularly returns to the estate he grew up on to hang out with his family and friends. While his bona fide family want none of the excess his new life can afford, his blud brothers...
- 3/10/2012
- by Jonathan Campbell
- Obsessed with Film
John Carter (12A)
(Andrew Stanton, 2012, Us) Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Samantha Morton, Ciarán Hinds. 132 mins
Despite the technological might of Pixar, this Martian epic still feels closer to retro fare such as Flash Gordon or Dune. It's a cumbersome hero's journey fully of silly names, skimpy costumes and princesses in peril – stuff we've seen recycled so many times since Edgar Rice Burroughs first wrote this, it now feels laughably quaint. Still, it's always fun to see an expensively rendered alien world, even if cheesy myth-making comes with the territory.
Trishna (15)
(Michael Winterbottom, 2011, UK) Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth. 113 mins
Hardy's Tess looks a comfortable fit with modern-day India in this naturalistic drama, which takes liberties with the text but finds new resonances, as Pinto's subdued villager struggles to find happiness with a wealthy young British-Indian.
The Raven (15)
(James McTeigue, 2012, Us) John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans.
(Andrew Stanton, 2012, Us) Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Samantha Morton, Ciarán Hinds. 132 mins
Despite the technological might of Pixar, this Martian epic still feels closer to retro fare such as Flash Gordon or Dune. It's a cumbersome hero's journey fully of silly names, skimpy costumes and princesses in peril – stuff we've seen recycled so many times since Edgar Rice Burroughs first wrote this, it now feels laughably quaint. Still, it's always fun to see an expensively rendered alien world, even if cheesy myth-making comes with the territory.
Trishna (15)
(Michael Winterbottom, 2011, UK) Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth. 113 mins
Hardy's Tess looks a comfortable fit with modern-day India in this naturalistic drama, which takes liberties with the text but finds new resonances, as Pinto's subdued villager struggles to find happiness with a wealthy young British-Indian.
The Raven (15)
(James McTeigue, 2012, Us) John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans.
- 3/10/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.