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Movies / Upcoming / A Very British Gangster
A Very British Gangster

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A Very British Gangster (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 21

Fresh: 14

Rotten:7

Average Rating: 6.3/10

Consensus: With a fascinating character as its subject, A Very British Gangster makes for entertaining, frightening, and informative viewing.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Jul 18, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: The British gangster genre has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years with films like Sexy Beast; Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; and Layer Cake (all of which screened at Sundance). However, as... The British gangster genre has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years with films like Sexy Beast; Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; and Layer Cake (all of which screened at Sundance). However, as cool and stylized as these films and their characters are,…there ain't nothing like the real thing. A Very British Gangster is a potently charged documentary about one of Britain's most dangerous crime families and introduces us to its magnetic, larger-than-life leader. The film follows the trials and tribulations of Dominic Noonan (aka Lattlay Fottfoy) as he lurches from criminal trial to trial while serving as the patriarch of an entire community, which he protects with his own brand of justice and security. He is both a gangland enforcer and a neighborhood fixer. The world that the film reveals is a disturbing one, full of lost innocence and lives, but the people who inhabit it are welded together through loyalty and love. Rarely does a film of this kind maintain such a steadfastly objective gaze. Director Donal Mac Intyre utilizes the unprecedented access given him by Noonan and his family, complemented by a rocking soundtrack and deft editing, to craft a riveting portrait of an exceedingly charming gangster who both lives up to and shatters the usual stereotypes. -- © Sundance Film Festival. [More]

Director: Donal MacIntyre

Director: Donal MacIntyre
Studio: Anywhere Road

Reviews for A Very British Gangster

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A Very British Gangster proves yet again that one great asset of film is vicarious participation in crime.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
08/11/08
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

blunt, charged

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/25/08
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

MacIntyre's heavy, heavy hand fudges it.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
07/24/08
David Noh
Film Journal International

A fairly inconsistent effort assembled in a slipshod manner that doesn't do much to help one understand where this British gangster is coming from.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
07/20/08
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre's film is fairly standard British TV product, closer to a glorified 60 Minutes segment then to cinematic art. But never mind -- its subject is, as he might say, feckin' amazing.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
07/18/08
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's all eminently watchable, but feels more like the run up to a larky crime picture like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels than a serious documentary.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/18/08
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

'Manchester is where I was born, where I live, and where I'll die,' announces Dominic Noonan at the start of Donal MacIntyre's gripping documentary.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
07/18/08
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A Very British Gangster plays less like a documentary than an E! exposé of lowlife skulduggery.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
07/18/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If Tony Soprano had a cheekier, less haunted, openly gay British counterpart, it would be Dominic Noonan, the Manchester crime boss profiled in the stylish and compelling A Very British Gangster.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
07/18/08
Gary Goldstein
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

More Hot Fuzz than Reservoir Dogs.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
07/16/08
Anna King
Time Out New York

It would have been nice to hear a small something about Noonan's very British victims.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
07/16/08
Julia Wallace
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Though hard to swallow much of this slanted overview, it goes down easy due to Noonan's charismatic force of personality, however unpleasant. But it's less about insight into the gangsta life, than a glimpse into a thug's action hero fantasy world.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
07/09/08
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

It's easy to forget this is a documentary. The central character wouldn't seem out of place in almost any British crime drama--he'd actually liven most of them up.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/12/07
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

A grimly fascinating look at an unsavoury character.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
12/07/07
thelondonpaper

A Very British Gangster, his portrait of Manchester crime boss Dominic Noonan, raises awkward questions about his methods, as well as the question of whether "documentary" is even the right word.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
12/07/07
David Gritten
Daily Telegraph

As ever, you sense that MacIntyre is half-seduced by the hard-man lifestyle, flattered to be included and content to peddle excitable gangland tourism in the guise of a criminal expose.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
12/07/07
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]

A deeply unnerving exposé.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
12/07/07
James Christopher
Times [UK]

A fascinating portrayal of a surprisingly complex individual and the major part loyalty and family play in his life.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
02/03/07
Pete Vonder Haar
Film Threat

At times, MacIntyre’s narrative abilities in making the Manchester gangster life-style appear glamorous makes you question how much of the film is real, but when you get down to it, the reality here is between the lines.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
01/27/07
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders

The film is beautifully shot by Mike Turnbull and Nick Manley, including a moody black and white scene in the cemetery and a lovely crane shot looking out at the doomed neighborhood.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
01/25/07
James Greenberg
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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Latest News for A Very British Gangster

August 30, 2008: Iconoclast.com: Though hard to swallow this slanted overview, it goes down easy due to Noonan's charismatic force of personality, however unpleasant. But it's less about insight into gangsta life, than a glimpse into a thug's action hero fantasy world. Opens in new window
More...

August 26, 2008: AnywhereRoad.com: Though hard to swallow this slanted overview, it goes down easy due to Noonan's charismatic force of personality, however unpleasant. But it's less about insight into gangsta life, than a glimpse into a thug's action hero fantasy world. Opens in new window
More...

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This week, we've got the Caped Crusader (The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger), ABBA aficionados (Mamma Mia!, starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried),... More...

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