Capital Punishment (2003) Reviews

• A messy attempt at a thriller that doesn't work

  davideo-22006-08-04

  STAR RATING: ***** Jodie Marsh **** Michelle Marsh *** Kym Marsh ** Rodney Marsh * Hackney Marsh A London taxi driver falls into debt to an old friend and becomes desperate to sort out his dire predicament. He finds it when he he is offered a 'driving' job. But he's driving kilos of heroin and decides it's not worth his dignity. But there's a new problem. He's witnessed a murder and now his problems are stacking up one by one. Punishment sadly perfectly sums up this misfiring small independent feature, with a lot of big ideas but without the kudos to pull any of them off. The makers are aiming for a Lock Stock/Snatch type edge but the plot just doesn't flow with the style and substance of those films and the badly written characters are simply just nowhere near as engaging or gripping. To make matters worse, it's filmed through-out with a grainy, closed in camera style that only serves to add more salt to the wounds. This aimed to be a big time gangster thriller in the vein of other recent gangster flicks before it but comes off as an amateurish, confused, messy effort that rightfully hasn't been heard of and has disappeared without trace with time. *

• Wheeling And Dealing!

  londontoile2006-04-08

  Authentic settings and honest performances add credibility to this unflinching tale of friendship and betrayal in the capital. Set against a backdrop of amateur boxing and rogue drug-running black cabs, this raw slice of London life packs a long-overdue punch of realism in a British crime genre full of comic-book criminals. A tough, uncompromising film about life-long friendship and hard choices, it covers the clash of ideals, deceit and betrayal with brute force - performances and direction harking back to Alan Clarke, where the characters are not criminal cardboard cutouts but as real as if they'd been snatched straight off the street. Once you watch the film, you'll never look at cab drivers in the same light, you'll be left wondering, who's taking me for a ride?

• skip this one

  a2910722005-11-12

  Kind of a weird movie... I had read it was pretty violent, but it appears to be more of a drama. The story is not explained enough; things just happen and you have to sit back and watch it happen without knowing why. It's like this is a sequel or something and I have missed the first part. The violence in this movie is almost like it is censored: A fighter gets knocked out in a boxing ring (you see everything but the punch), a guy pulls a gun and you hear him cock it (but you never see the gun), a guy is tortured by a butcher (!) but you don't see him being cut up...and so on, and so on. Pretty lame movie if you ask me. Don't bother watching it.

• nothing special

  avance702005-04-06

  The movie is shot in such fashion, that it feels real (camera/colors), almost like a reality show. Colors are pretty much flat - like on a rainy day, and the movie is partly dark. Actor performances are good, but it all feels like a really low budget movie made only for TV. You won't learn anything, and it won't keep you locked to a chair. So, to go to the cinema and watch this one? NO! Watch it on TV... well, if you don't have anything better to do. You might be better of watching a CSI show. A 5/10 from me.

• Crap with a Capital C

  natashabowiepinky2013-10-07

  I've not much to say about this one. Just loads of idiot Cockneys swearing at each other, with a few torture scenes thrown in for good measure. There is a skeleton of a plot involving drug smuggling, and Suggs from Madness puts in a two minute appearance as a policeman. But it's hard to imagine a more boring film, and this ranks alongside Don't Panic as one of the worst I'll seen this year. But at least Don't Panic was fun in it's awfulness. This is just a snoozefest of bad actors posturing as tough guys F-ing and C-ing away. There's no reason for its existence, and no reason for you to watch it. So don't. Over and out. 1/10