Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Dillane, and Joanne Whalley star in first-time feature filmmaker Malcolm Venville's darkly comic tale of a man who rallies his friends in order to seek revenge against the French waiter who recently slept with his wife. Sexy Beast scribes Louis Mellis and David Scinto pen the screenplay for a film produced by Richard Brown and Steve Golin. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Is this a documentary about a porn professional? Or a gym rat? Neither. It's a stagy, half-entertaining, half-tedious acting competition between five excellent Englishmen.
A verbose exercise in profanity that wastes the talent of a bunch of fine actors who sit around and discuss how best to restore the bruised ego of one of their hardened gang.
The title suggests an exploration of the macho notion of masculinity, and while the theme filters through, it is less than satisfying; the film also lacks layers, making it a one-note movie with the odd flash of wit
Writers Louis Mellis and David Scinto seem to have been hoping for something along the lines of those Quentin Tarantino scenes where thugs kvetch about pop music and cinnamon buns, but the 44 Inch dialogue is not as clever as Tarantino's...
The frequently profane dialogue suggests David Mamet on an off-night (so does Malcolm Venville's claustrophobia-inducing direction), though the first-rate cast works hard.
Ninety-four minutes of stagey locker-room philosophizing. Sets a record for use of the word "cunt." Each of the characters exemplifies a different stereotype of male behavior, none of them very interesting.
Venville keeps the camera back and the images wet, brown, and moldy while the characters scowl and spew vitriol at their foe, allowing us to see how they have nothing behind them.
You Brits can make some dicked up movies. 1 Stars Whats even more dicked up is I spent 1 hour 34 minutes watching it
January 11, 2012
Bruce Bruce
Super Reviewer
When an East End villain's wife leaves him for another man, he and his crew of old lags kidnap her new beau and leave him to stew in his own fear while they decide on the appropriate punishment. 44 Inch Chest is a rather unusual affair in that although its subject matter is that of the typical cockney gangster, it's a
very wordy, character driven affair in which very little actually happens. It's essentially about a man whose self image is rooted in bare fisted, testosterone fuelled machismo coming to terms with rejection and loss. The story nearly in its entirety is set in the same room as as such feels very stagey; more often than not it looks more like the play for toady than a cinema going experience and anyone expecting gangster h- jinx in the vein of guy Ritchie will be very disappointed. Having said all that, the script is extremely well written with plenty of sharp, funny dialogue and the amazing cast give an acting masterclass. It's a shame the format is so limited but it's worth it for the performances alone.
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