Outlaw Review

"Outlaw" reviews

Movie

Outlaw

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2007-03-02 16:00:23

Provider

Review

With The Business and Football Factory director Nick Love has majored in lad-mag movies. Following on from his paeans to gangsters and football hooligans he turns notionally to the other side of the law with a film about the tabloids' best friends - vigilantes. Sparked by the return of Bryant (Sean Bean) from the war in Iraq, a group of like-minded crime victims come together to wreak havoc on those currently beyond the law. Fed information by a sympathetic copper (Bob Hoskins) the gang seek revenge on those who've wronged them before turning their attention beyond. But Outlaw stumbles badly by labouring their point that crime is out of control, making this gang so horrendously mismatched. While posh barrister Cedric (Lennie James) might be understandlby driven wild by the fact that his pregnant wife has been murdered by a gang boss he was prosecuting, another member of these Outlaws is simply an office boy who got caught up in a spot of road rage. Still this does give Love the chance to cast Danny Dyer, his favourite swaggering talent-free orfentic cockney.

Like many vigilante films before it (notably the third instalment of the Dirty Harry series), Outlaw depicts possibly noble intentions getting wildly out of control. Unlike the thoughtful Magnum Force, however, Outlaw doesn't seem unduly bothered by the prospect of their retributive justice extending to some "c**t" at work who annoys Gene (Dyer). When security guard Simon (Sean Harris) suggests adding Muslims to the list of “paedophiles, dealers, bullies, junkies” Bryant calls him "philistine", which seems a rather mild rebuke for someone angling to start a religious war. Outlaws is every bit, if not more, irresponsible than Daily Mail bait like Kidulthood. It just comes from a different angle. But expect those who condemned the latter to love this fantasy land depiction of a Britain where street crime is out of control. And if you're a paediatrician, consider getting your windows boarded up.

Copyright © 2007.