RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / A Very British Gangster
A Very British Gangster

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Showtimes & Tickets
  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

A Very British Gangster (2008)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
64 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:22

Fresh:14

Rotten:8

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

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

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
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

blunt, charged

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

MacIntyre's heavy, heavy hand fudges it.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
07/24/08
David Noh
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Julia Wallace
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Takes great pains to tart up its mildly intriguing subject matter.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
07/13/08
Andrew Schenker
Andrew Schenker
Slant Magazine

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
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
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
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
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]

A deeply unnerving exposé.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
12/07/07
James Christopher
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
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
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

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...

July 17, 2008: Critics Consensus: The Dark Knight Is One Of The Year's Best-Reviewed
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...

See All

More Movies

Close
Coming Soon
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date

More…

100% 100% Daybreakers 1/8
— Leap Year 1/8
86% 86% Youth in Revolt 1/8
— The Book of Eli 1/15
— The Spy Next Door 1/15
See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Critics' Best & Worst

Critics' Best & Worst

RT's critic friends offer their choices

Total Recall

Total Recall

We list 10 New Year's Eve-themed films!

2010 Movie Preview

2010 Movie Preview

Find next year's top releases!

Shrek is Back!

Shrek is Back!

Celebrate Shrek's return with this trailer!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Harold Ramis Discusses Filmography, Teases Ghostbusters 3 Source: Heeb Magazine
10
  • National Film Registry Adds 2009 Selections Source: Hollywood Reporter
8
  • New Moon Tops Moviefone's 2009 List Source: Hollywood Reporter
28
  • Star Trek Tops 2009's Most-Pirated Movies List Source: Hollywood Reporter
19
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
111
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
26
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar, Sherlock, and Alvin Team Up To Break Records
364
  • Critics Choose Must-Sees and Worsts of 2009
209
  • RT Editors Choose Their Favorite Films of 2009!
130
  • RT's Ten Most Popular Movies of 2009
87
  • Total Recall: New Year's Eve Movies
39
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
37
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: 9 and Paranormal Activity
31
  • Critics Consensus: The White Ribbon Is Certified Fresh
22
  • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
10
  • Five Favorites of the Five Favorite Films of 2009
10
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
72
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
22
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • A Very British Gangster at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Nude Scenes of the Year
Best Nude Scenes of the Year External Link

Moviefone lists their top ten nude scenes from film in 2009.

Hollywood.com's Best of 2009
Hollywood.com's Best of 2009 External Link

Thomas Leupp offers us Hollywood.com's take on the best films of the year.

Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.