Outlaw (2007) Reviews

• Better than some would have you believe

  nosferatutwin2007-08-14

  Just spent some time watching this move .. and unlike the previous reviewer enjoyed this film. I disagreed with him so much it prompted me to write my first ever comments on IMDb. In the trivia part of the IMDb description it says that actual events were used as inspiration for the scenes and i thought they were all quite believable. "He's hidin in da countryside"! was one comment i found funny as is in the age of big brother hiding in the city would have made for a very short movie. Somehow i suspect that other people who have watched this film sort of missed the point and have probable led sheltered lives somewhere with mummy and daddy feeding them with a silver spoon as i found the characters true to life as i have met people who talk and act how the script was written. I'm not claiming that this film should win any awards .. however i thought it deserved higher praise and didn't want any other potential viewers to be put off. blair witch scored higher and my little eye scored the same ( i turned both of these movies off before the end). This movie has far more entertainment value than both and after all isn't that what movies are for .. thanks for listening.

  More

• Interesting concept

  kthoran2007-07-09

  The idea of vigilante revenge is a powerful basis. This movie shows not only the possibilities of revenge but the reluctance and hesitation to engage in the same. It was well acted and mostly believable but the plot did tend to get muddied a bit at certain points. Gives an interesting view of British home life, office life, and countryside as well to those interested in British culture. Overall, it caught my interest and kept me watching until the rather predictable ending. But predictable ending aside it shouldn't matter to most movie watchers as the action keeps everything moving and keeps it interesting to the end.

  More

• Dubious fun!

  Gary-1612007-07-22

  FIRSTLY, lazy plotting: 1) If you are threatened on a high profile case you are given protection. This is standard. 2) During the hanging scene didn't someone say to the Barrister: "He killed your wife and kid and you want him to live?" In which case, having ears, the bad guy would have come after the Barrister. He didn't. 3) Kneecapping your fellow outlaw. Risking him shopping them all to the police out of revenge? 4) Lewis shows the unmasking of Bryant to the outlaws to warn them of the dangers of exposure and then doesn't destroy the footage? He stores it in his flat to be found by the bad guy and broadcast to the media? 5) Dekker is approached by the ex-outlaw of doubtful loyalty who reminds him of the huge reward waiting for him if he shops Bryant. Yet he trusts him with information about the location of the crime Boss? SECONDLY, camera-work made to look like "footage sent in by member of public who caught the moment." Very NOW concept, but an utter headache to watch. THIRDLY, in the extras, Love and cast seem to echo the sentiments of the characters, talking up alleged leniency of paedofile sentencing, etc. This is disingenuous as the film suggests that becoming an outlaw makes you even more stressed, alienated from the workplace and in greater physical danger than ever before. Despite the solemn atmosphere, you don't get the impression Love cares about any "message." It is the means to an end to make a "Lad's Mag" film and tongue never strays far from cheek. Also, was Love joshing when he called Sean Bean a "movie star"? He is a respected journeyman, not a star. That is why he is in your film, Nick, and not "War of the Worlds." Bean does his usual Major Sharpe routine competently enough. FOURTHLY....there isn't a fourthly because I found it impossible not to be entertained by this film. I didn't expect much when seeing the words "OUTLAW" and "NICK LOVE" together, but it does what it says on the tin. It is gripping and ends on a real belly laugh. I would watch it again. What he did get right is the fact that not all men are macho in real life and are more often than not afraid of confrontation.

  More

• Suffers From Being Contrived And Underwritten

  Theo Robertson2007-03-11

  I was looking forward to catching this in the cinema . A great premise of wronged citizens let down by the law and bleeding heart do gooder liberals which is something I can connect with . On top of that OUTLAW contains a great trailer so spending £2.30 on a bus ticket and £6 to get into the cinema ( And let's not forget you spend twenty minutes sitting through adverts and trailers ) for some violent catharsis seemed time and money well spent Oh dear . I won't come out with the cliché of " That's two hours of my life I'll never get back " but I was expecting far more . I said this movie had a great trailer and that's because the trailer contained all the best bits . Yes there's bits of extreme violence in the trailer and you'll be rubbing your chin wondering what dastardly deeds the criminals committed in order to suffer deserved come back . Unfortunately after seeing the entire movie you'll still be none the wiser because Nick Love has written a screenplay lacking character motivation !!!!! SLIGHT SPOILERS !!!!! Some other commentators have gone into detail as to the flaws of the screenplay so I won't go into much detail but I'm still left wondering what caused Bryant to go loco . His wife dumped him , he gets name called by some chavs and the son of his former CO was scarred for life by thugs . Is this a good enough reason for committing murder ? I was also confused by Bryant's dialog . He rants about AIDS victims and suicide bombers and " That f****** c*** Blair " then a few scenes later when one of the characters mentions he's a Muslim ( There's nothing to indicate he's Muslim - He just states it as a fact ) Bryant replies that everyone is an individual . Hmmm Bryant is a right wing nutter in one scene and a few scenes later he's changed his tune . Bryant isn't the only one who's suffering from a poorly written character . So's Bob Hoskins cop has spent 25 years on the force and it's only now he's decided that the police are a waste of space . Sorry but I couldn't take him seriously or the fact that he has access to serious crime files , files which his local station don't seem to have noticed have gone missing .In fact nearly all the characters are nothing more than literary devices and cyphers and you can't help but notice this which means you can't take them seriously as three dimensional people who live in Britain in 2007 . Perhaps this is best summed up in the scene where they capture a crim , drive him to a barn house , stab him a couple of times and then just as they're about to execute him by hanging they then change their mind allowing the scum bag to live and set up the plot turn at the end . I think the phrase for this is " A contrived storyline " Having said all this I didn't really feel I'd wasted my money watching OUTLAW . the cast do their best with their underwritten characters and because he's the only character that Nick Love seems to have put any hard work into Sean Harris's excels as fascist weirdo Hillier . When Hillier mentions what he'd like to do to Gary Glitter and Ian Huntley I had to control myself from jumping out of my seat screaming " RIGHT ON " . Such a pity Hillier disappears two thirds of the way through the movie . For those of you expecting a violent thriller you won't be disappointed because there's one scene where a character gets kneecapped which caused gasps of shock in the ( Near empty ) cinema . For those of you who liked the digital video look of Danny Boyle's 28 DAYS LATER you'll love what director Nick Love has done here though anyone who doesn't like digital video will absolutely despise the directing All in all a rather disappointing British thriller which doesn't realise its full potential

  More

• Disturbing on more than 1 level

  dave-30012007-03-14

  This isn't a great film and I was never quite sure whether it meant to be a study of the dark underbelly of disaffected Britain or a crude vigilante flick. A lot of reviewers here have been dismissive of it, but I think it had fleeting touches of real power. Unfortunately, they did not build into anything of substance. The gang members did not convince and their behaviour took the film into a strange fantasy-land world. Sean Bean made a reasonable stab at a two dimensional character and a better script would have brought this to life. Supporting cast made a fair stab at it, but all-in-all an opportunity missed.

  More