Filth

21 June 2015

Filth

• Director: Jon S. Baird
• Based on novel: no
• Cast: James McAvoy, Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Imogen Poots, Brian McCardie, Emun Elliot, Gary Lewis, John Sessions, Shauna Macdonald, Jim Broadbent, Joanne Froggatt, Kate Dickie, Martin Compston, Shirley Henderson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• James McAvoy – Atonement, Becoming Jane, Macbeth Retold, Inside I’m Dancing, White Teeth
• Jamie Bell – Jane Eyre, Defiance, Hallam Foe, King Kong, Dear Wendy, Undertow, Billy Elliot
• Eddie Marsun – The World’s End, Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows, Sherlock Holmes, Happy-Go-Lucky, V for Vendetta, Vera Drake, 21 Grams, Gangs of New York
• Imogen Poots – Fright Night, Jane Eyre, Age of Innocence, 28 weeks later, V for Vendetta
• Brian McCardie – Case Histories, Rob Roy
• Emun Elliot – Prometheus
• Gary Lewis – Case Histories, Merlin, Gangs of New York, Billy Elliot, East Is East, My Name Is Joe, Carla’s Song
• John Sessions – The Merchant of Venice, Gangs of New York, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, In the Bleak Midwinter, Henry V
• Shauna Macdonald – Case Studies, Bonekickers, Late Night Shopping
• Jim Broadbent – the Harry Potter films, Another Year, The Young Victoria, Vera Drake, Gangs of New York, Moulin Rouge, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Topsy- Turvy, Little Voice, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Richard III, The Crying Game, Enchanted April, Life Is Sweet, Black Adder, Brazil
• Joanne Froggatt – Downton Abbey
• Kate Dickie – Prometheus, Red Road, Tinsel Town
• Martin Compston – Sweet Sixteen, Red Road, Doomsday
• Shirley Henderson – The Taming of the Shrew Retold, Harry Potter, Tristram Shandy, 24 Hour Party People, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Topsy-Turvy, Trainspotting, Rob Roy
• Why? James McAvoy and Jamie Bell
• Seen:  6 June 2015 

Funny? Gross? Parody of… something?

This is not how we are used to seeing Billy Elliot and his dad or Robbie ofAtonement.

James McAvoy is Bruce Robertson, a foul-mouthed, coke-smoking, obnoxious ruthless cop, ready to walk over bodies to get a promotion. Jamie Bell is his weaker willed but just as ambitious and ruthless partner. Gary Lewis is a pathetic dim-witted colleague.

Other known faces flash by. Anna from Downton Abbey. Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter. CCTV operation Kate Dickie from Red Road.  Eddie Marsun from a thousand movies. And then show up again to play important roles.

Bruce Robertson is a manipulator that makes Iago look almost loyal. He’s cruel and violent and sexist and sex-crazed. And his wife and daughter have left him. And he hides a grieving and sensitive heart.

Is that supposed to make us feel sorry for him?

And you know what? We do.

One of the weirder movies we’ve seen for a while but it’s funny and fascinating and incredibly well acted.

And we do pity Bruce. He really is suffering. He really is tragic. And he’s falling apart.

The film is like one long hallucination, Bruce’s and our own. It’s a bad trip but a good film. It’s raw and absurd and it leaves me feeling stunned.

James McAvoy is absolutely incredible.

4 * of 5