In case you were unaware of the shameless Twitter plugging, David Sullivan produced/financed a film about East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray. As I had a couple of quid on my iTunes and nothing to do on a Saturday night, I thought I might give it a go.
First of all, let’s start off with the marketing for this film. There is a difference between subtle plugging using Sullivan’s 2 teenage boys’ large following online, and literally shoving it down people’s throat until it becomes a punchline for West Ham fans. Even after new signing Victor Moses accidentally tweeted about the less Poundland-esque film “Legend” starring Tom Hardy, I assume someone at the club made him delete it and tweet the poster for ROFK, which just oozed of sarcasm.
The poster has the words “Best British gangster film of all time. Five Star – Sunday Sport” written on it. That is probably the most misleading review ever, as the Sunday Sport, famous for its headlines such as “Osama Bin Laden spotted in Primark” and “Ed Miliband’s dad killed my kitten”, is owned by none other than Mr David Sullivan. Sullivan hasn’t done a great job in marketing the film himself, as it was revealed that he created IMDb accounts to give reviews, forgetting to change his name in the process. Even the reviews on iTunes look strangely suspicious (those which aren’t just people saying “announce Hernandez.”)
With all this in mind I was expecting the worst. A shockingly marketed film which will likely be in the shadow of the Tom Hardy film to come out this month. However I was pleasantly surprised by how ok it was. If you don’t know the synopsis, it’s about twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray who go from failed boxers to pretty much running London through their ruthless thirst for violence. Or in other words, they go from the Rise Of The Krays of gangsters to the Tom Hardy of gangsters.
My biggest annoyance would probably be that Ronnie and Reggie, played by Simon Cotton and Kevin Leslie, look absolutely nothing alike, despite the 2 being twins. But in fairness, there aren’t that many acting twins in Britain. The only ones I can think of are Fred and George Weasley, who would probably be more of a mis-cast. But anyway, they did a fairly good job for two complete unknowns. Cotton’s performance of Ronnie and his deep psychological problems were commendable, as was both of their portrayals of the ruthlessness of the twins in real life. However, a lot of the other characters seemed monotonous, helped in part by an average script.
Aside from the acting, the set was actually quite impressive. Managing to re-create 1960’s London on a low budget isn’t a bad feat, especially doing it well to make it seem realistic. I’m not 100% sure that strippers had plastic tits in the 1960’s, but oh well. This was financed by David Sullivan after all.
Overall I would probably give it a 6/10, which isn’t bad for a straight to DVD release. Is it the best British gangster film of all time? No. Is it the best film about the Krays twins this year? Doubt it. Would I advise you buy it? Nah, wait for a couple of months and it will be available at Poundland.
