A story of non-violent men in a terribly violent life.
Suffering from an unfortunate title and a stupid poster, this movie is easy to brush off, since scores of bland, copycat movies have already been made about the gritty backstreets of London. However, give this one a try. You won't be disappointed. In fact, it's a gem in its niche genre.
Paul is a bouncer. He has a face that looks like he's been run over by a train. His job is beating people up. He's the kind of man that you don't want to cross paths with.
However, just like the movie's poster and title, this first image is misleading. Paul is also surprisingly aware. He's aware of the people around him, he's aware of how they feel, what they think. He's good at his job not because he hits harder than the other guys, but because he's alert of the customers and can sense trouble before it starts. The only thing he couldn't predict (or predicted, but couldn't stop) is his ex, who left him for a shady (and of course, richer) club owner.
Tom, a successful ex-boxer but down on his luck, is hired by Paul. Paul has followed his career, knows him better than he knows himself, both respects and pities him for refusing a payment to take a dive in the past, and also recognizes his weakness, which is his own weakness: although these are tough guys by definition, dealing in delivering and taking brutal beatings on a daily basis, they also have strong emotional, human sides, which they subconsciously hide. In their gritty world, humanity is a weakness and there's no place for it. Any snotty drunk kid can pull a gun and shoot them, any loser who they escort out could be waiting around the corner with a knife the next evening. They need to be alert at all times, and above all, they always need to have cool heads.
The film doesn't really have a deep story, or what you could call a plot, but it has interesting characters in a setting where you don't expect to find anyone interesting. It won't be among anyone's top 10, or even top 100, but it's definitely worth seeing.
Watch for British legend Tom Bell, in a small role as a pub owner.
