Why so much hype?

Simply Perfect

i must have seen a different film!!

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Tony Lord (Glen Murphy) is lying in a pool of blood in the first scene. The next thing you know he is in Italy, covered with blood. He enters a small village which we quickly figure out is an existentialist setting. Tony meets Francesco (Giovanni Capalbo) the only man in the village that will talk to him. Francesco is concerned about his daughter (Serena Iansiti) running off with an Englishman (Christopher Hatherall) who is a bad seed. Tony has flashbacks to his own life both as a child and an adult. He sees the negativity in his life and must come to terms with the idea that his mother would have been better off had she stayed in Italy.The film was boring. There wasn't much action, just low grade drama. It seemed that Tony couldn't recognize his own parents as youths which added to the confusion of the story. For those who expect to see a good crime drama need to look elsewhere. This is more like an art film by people who don't know how to do art films.

When I checked-in to this movie, I was very disappointed to see the low score. Ten minutes in, I realised the problem: you see Big Ray and Fireman Murphy in the credits and you want to see mugs getting a slap for taking liberties. That doesn't really happen, so anyone looking for that type of movie will be disappointed.What does happen is that a couple of cockneys get metaphysical on the collective backsides of the audience and pull off something worthwhile. It's not the best movie you'll ever see, in fact it's pretty easy to spot how it's going to play out from the start, but if you send your expectations down the nuclear sub (pub) and put your plates (feet) up with a bowl of earwax (snacks), you could probably persuade 'er indoors (betrothed / spouse / partner) to watch it with you.

What a great film this is, superb acting by everyone, this is what watching films is all about, great story, imaginative filming, wonderful acting all round, it's very difficult to find a better actor than Ray winstone, brilliant cast, fab storyline, all the actors are on top form, it's one of those films you can get your teeth into, definitely worth buying, comes over as a very real film, there is not enough films like this made these days. Can't see why some people seem to have a problem with this film, the editing, production and directing are all first class, it's a film that makes you think, surely it can't get any better than this, keep your eyes open for more films that include this cast, you will not go wrong.

Well, Lawwds of Lahndaan... It's been on my "What's this one all about?" scroll-past list for a while (other, better fodder seems to have always presented itself). As nothing else caught my eye tonight I decided to feed my shameful desire and watch a bit of "Fawh Sevin Free Sevin Carlin!" Ray Winston malarkey. Yeah! 'Ave it!Oh foolish me!From hereon in, instead of typing out Lords of London I'll refer to it as LoL. To me that's acronym's fitting.So, LoL. I think it's other name is Lords of London (Lost in Italy) but this additional part of the film's title seems to have become... lost. Hopefully without giving away the big surprise of the film I think "Lost".... in Italy would have worked better because in a right cackhanded way that's what this film's trying to be - with ragou! You'll probably cotton on to what this mish-mash of a title is all about by the - thankfully early - scene in which he encounters a living, breathing person for the first time. To be clear I'm not saying that to sound like a right Clever Dick, it's just it's as plain as the nose on your face what's happened, what's happening and what's going to happen. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing with a movie - that "knowing what's going" - however with this film I found myself not caring after about 30 minutes in.You have the ubiquitous Ray Winston roaring "Faaahki*g Caaa**!" etc. and the odd scenes of uber-violence (some with Big Ray in 'em!) by way of flashbacks slung in usually when the main character (played not by Big Ray but by Glen Murphy) has a bit of a fuzzy moment as he's lurching around a small, Italian town seemingly oblivious to what's going on even though I was pretty damn convinced that if I was him I'd have worked it out ages ago, stopped running about the place and sat myself down for a meal and a bottle of wine at the local taverna. Other than that it's pretty much Lost in Lombardy and you're wishing you'd gone to bed instead.The acting is, on the whole, pretty strained and unconvincing (the scene featuring the dance at the village hall or whatever it is - god help me! If ever I've prayed hard for a Godfather style invasion of gunmen it was at that point). Ray Winston's Ray Winston (however briefly) - he snarls about for a bit doing the Winston thing. Glen Murphy (Who's 'e?) looks confused and in need of a sit down. The rest of the cast were there - one point for merit.I got two things from this film: a desire for it to be over soon was the main thing but the camera work in the Italian town was a saving grace making it look like a nice place to spend a "Love's First Bloom Rekindled" short-break with my wife. We like Italian food and rustic European towns. Other than that an entirely dull and forgettable film that left me compelled to write my first ever review in the hope I can reach out and save at least one person from repeating my folly.In my best Cockney accent: do y'self a fayvah, sunshine an' givv this wahhn a miss - it's a load of old Tom Tit!