The Business (2005)

Frankie decides he's had enough with his life as a street thug living on a South London estate, and jets off to spain where he meets big time businessman Charlie, who's currently running ... See full summary »

Director:

Nick Love

Writer:

Nick Love

Stars:

Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Geoff Bell

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny Dyer	...	Frankie
Tamer Hassan	...	Charlie
Geoff Bell	...	Sammy
Georgina Chapman	...	Carly
Eddie Webber	...	Ronnie
Adam Bolton	...	Danny
Linda Henry	...	Shirley
Roland Manookian	...	Sonny
Arturo Venegas	...	Mayor
Camille Coduri	...	Nora
Martin Marquez	...	Pepe
Andy Linden	...	Joe (as Andy Linton)
Sally Watkins	...	Mum
Eduardo Duro	...	Carlos
Tracy Kirby	...	Laura (as Tracey Kirby)

Storyline

Frankie decides he's had enough with his life as a street thug living on a South London estate, and jets off to spain where he meets big time businessman Charlie, who's currently running the hottest bars in the land and also a South London bank robber and drug kingpin. From here on in Frankie signs up to a lifetime of crime, women and drugs and works his way from the bottom to the top of the Spanish cocaine empire with Charlie and Fellow bank robber and drug kingpin Sammy who does not give Frankie the best reception.

---

Plot Keywords:

drugs | spain | organized crime | money | cocaine | 

---

Taglines:

This firm will blow you away

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language and drug content, violence and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [UK]

Country:

UK Spain

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

2 September 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

Biznisz

Filming Locations:

Calle Apodaca, La Línea de la Concepción

Box Office

Budget:

£2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£531,267 (United Kingdom), 4 September 2005, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vertigo Films,Monkey Productions S.L.,Powder Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Danny Dyer and Linda Henry both go on to have roles in eastenders where Linda also plays a character called Shirley and is playing Danny Dyer's mum.

---

Goofs

The film is set in the early 1980s however the alloy wheels fitted to the Porsche 928 featured in the film are from a much later model and weren't available until 1994.

---

Quotes

Frankie: Two beers please, and I don't suppose there's a chance you'll suck my cock?
Lady at bar: No, there isn't a chance. My old man's over there, and he's a big cunt.

---

Crazy Credits

At the end the credits say that Frankie went to Hollywood as in "Frankie goes to Hollywood". There are some connections between Frankie the character and "Frankie goes to Hollywood" the band in the movie.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Student Pocket Guide: An Exclusive Interview with Danny Dyer (2008)

---

Soundtracks

Avalon
Written by Bryan Ferry
Performed by Roxy Music

User Reviews

Scorsese Wannabe

I can't get enough of gangsters . I saw GOODFELLAS for the 20th billionth time last week and I bought THE DEPARTED on DVD yesterday so earlier tonight I sat down to watch Nick Love's much hyped - At least much hyped by Film Four - gangster movie THE BUSINESS

Did I say I couldn't get enough of gangsters ? Perhaps what I meant to say was I can't get enough of Scorsese because I got the impression that Nick Love was trying to emulate Scorsese's style and that is fatal for any director . Like GOODFELLAS and several other Scorsese classics the musical soundtrack is very important but for some reason Love seems to have thrown as many pop songs as possible into the mix . It's mentioned that towards the end of the story that it's 1987 with much of the narrative taking place before this , but the 80s tracks seem to be placed without any thought being put into their appropriate place within the chronology

The story itself is similar to a Scorsese film in that it's male orientated and misogynistic . Only difference is that the female characters are central to the plot in the Scorsese universe while in THE BUSINESS they seem to exist to just so to set an amusing scene towards the end where Frankie has to earn some money and one can't help thinking perhaps Love should have concentrated on a style of his own and put more thought into his own screenplay or perhaps even have directed a story written by somebody else therefore this audience member wouldn't have structuralist theories while watching a Nick Love movie

As for the cast I do remember writing in my review of BORSTAL BOY that Danny Dyer is an actor who could become a big name and I still stick by that but it's obvious he's rather unconvincing as a big hard gangster . I also couldn't help noticing that Camille Coduri and Linda Henry seem to be playing the same characters ( Though far more foul mouthed ) that they play in DOCTOR WHO and EASTENDERS respectively but as I said their characters are woefully underdeveloped so perhaps I shouldn't blame the actresses

THE BUSINESS is loud , violent and foul mouthed but most of all disappointing . Like OUTLAW the screenplay needed more work on it and perhaps the next film Love makes has a stronger producer who wants to find out like this audience member if he has an idiosyncratic style of his own