Life of a Gangster Review – Funny in parts, but not always intentionally | film

HHere’s a strange film about two devious boys who get on the wrong side of a well-meaning gangster and have to hide out in Greece. It’s not reckless per se. Rather, she lacks the resources to successfully bring her vision to the screen. His quirks are sometimes cute and sometimes amateurish, and despite there being a mix of influences, from Bond to Kingsman to Guy Ritchie and even Mission: Impossible, the filmmakers don’t have the necessary budget, meaning it sometimes feels like a TikTok parody of more expensive films.

It’s a shame, because there are some interesting visual ideas that go beyond the photography. For example: A man beating a man tied to a chair in an undulating manicured garden is filmed in a beautiful wide shot, with a man in the distance calmly crossing the fence. But the post-production is the biggest letdown: the sound mix is ​​poor, and it’s a real shame that the final image before the credits roll, which should be really bad, is derailed by ridiculous FX.

Lead actor Tony Cook saves anyone the trouble of calling him a cheap copy of Jason Statham by presenting himself as exactly that in his social media bio – and that’s pretty much what he is. The second lead, Johnny Weldon, excellent in the Netflix adaptation One Day, doesn’t have the stuff to work with here, but he’s a friendly presence. Some of the acting in the lesser roles isn’t great, which contributes to tonal problems where it’s often difficult to tell if a moment is meant to be serious or comedic. The bloopers at the end offer a bit of insight: everyone is having a great time, making each other laugh and cringe in ostensibly dramatic scenes. How are we supposed to take serious things seriously when it’s clear that the people who make them often find it impossible?