Film Reviews

Straightheads

• Rating:
• Director: Dan Reed
• Starring: Danny Dyer
• Details: UK / 80mins (18).

There are a lot of angry/revenge movies coming out of Britain lately. In the last while, we've had Red Road, Outlaw, London To Brighton, The Football Factory, and with This Is England on the way, it doesn't look like it's letting up anytime soon. They all deal with disillusioned protagonists who are let down by the law in some shape or form, and Straightheads is no different. Alice (Anderson) and Adam (Dyer) meet when Adam installs a security network in the apartment. She invites him to a housewarming party in a secluded wood, but on the way home, they are set upon by a group of locals. Alice is raped and Adam is beaten so badly, he loses an eye. The couple decide to take the matter into their own hands and set about dishing out the revenge. Director Dan Reed takes his time in setting up the story, but then takes far too much time getting about it. Not a lot goes on in Straightheads and although Reed might argue that it's all psychologically based, it doesn't make for interesting viewing. Mixing Straw Dogs with The Ordeal, Straightheads never hits the high notes of those. It's bleak and sometimes disturbing, but the story isn't there to kept the interest alive. After The Last King Of Scotland, Anderson might just have reinvented herself as the sexy older woman, while everyone's favourite cockney seems to have invented his own niche: like John Cusack in the rain, we now have Danny Dyer in the woods.

Review by Gavin Burke