Four

I watched this late as I could not sleep. Yes it did have a little Chuckle Brother humour - but it did lighten it up. I knew it was not going to be too serious the way Sean Pertwee was knocking the crap out of the kidnapped man and the man was able to respond in a tone which you would use to order a pizza - although he did get better. The premise was a good one but the film could have been different and a lot darker, but for light entertainment it was good.

Sean is always a pleasure to watch and the Welsh lead was a bit wishy washy however the female character was brilliant. She certainly took control of the situation - which the viewer could see from a distance.

Worth a watch but don't expect social or ethical undertones.

Some good things about this. The production design, the directing, the acting from most of the cast. The general movement of the story is interesting and compelling, but some detail in the dialog is clumsy and comes across as not clever and a bit cliché. On paper it may work, but the film has been ruined by one miscast actor. This actor in the business man. He may be a fine actor for a different script, but here he delivers the lines in a very unbelievable way. He has not crafted a character who we can connect with because his characters personality is never nailed. They needed a different actor to play this main protagonist. Unfortunately he is the weakest link when he is supposed to be the strongest. It might not be his fault. It is likely a casting and/or directing issue. He may be very good in other scripts.

So film makers out there, take this as a lesson - casting is the next most important thing after script - without question.

Possibly the best low budget film I have seen to date. The director uses the desolate location and some amazing acting talent to bring to life a clever, intricate and often funny script. The language is shocking, as is the level of violence, but this created for me an almost morbid, edge of seat fascination, wondering what would come next. The ending was unexpected and not for the faint hearted! Interestingly, it was difficult to like any of the four characters, and the audience were left knowing little more about them than we did at the start of the film. Definitely a film to watch, perhaps more than once to really appreciate the subtle inferences of the script and direction.

I must admit, when I heard that this film had been made for £100k all in, and shot on one location in 17 days straight, I lowered my expectations accordingly. I needn't have, the script is taught, the dialogue is genuinely amusing with plenty of humour and for the most part the editing is sharp; while the plot unfolds revealing a different layer with each twist... The ending delivers a great pay off too.

Pertwee brings real menace to the roll of the sinister detective and all of the characters are well observed.

The broadsheets were hard on this film, I recommend you watch it and decide for yourself. It's a low budget British film, that may be reason enough for many support it, but I want to be entertained as well, and Four delivered on that score. Hence my 8 out of 10.

Watch it. And Watch out for debut film maker John Langridge, if that's hist first effort I can't wait to see what comes next!

Although this film has a very theatrical feel and could, perhaps, be better performed on a stage, it has a script full of very black humour and some very strong language. At times the script mocks itself as four people go through a tangled web of deception and counter deception. It is a film for which you need to have an open mind right from the "go" or otherwise you'll miss its razor sharp patches of dialogue delivered by a cracking cast (especially Pertwee).

The action is largely confined to an appropriately dark, derelict and isolated warehouse and is very script driven. There is much violence but it is, thankfully, never overdone. It doesn't need to be for the faces of the actors tell us all we need to know, and that is why I cannot believe the low score this film has accumulated. I just think cinema audiences have never much liked stagy films as many directors have found to their cost no matter how good the material has been.

Although much of the writing is first class there are some patchy moments and it is arguable that one or two scenes didn't quite add what they were supposed to give to the drama. Put another way they were wasted because of a lack of sharpness.

But this is much better than three or four out of ten, and is certainly much better than a whole series of some crime capers.