You probably shouldn’t watch William Monahan’s London Boulevard if you’re hoping for a scorching-hot romance between the lead characters who Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley are playing. Unfortunately there wasn’t much to that love story (in-between the sheets or outside of them).
The Brit Flick was released in the U.K. last November. It follows a familiar gangster film format: Gangster gets punished for crime; gangster tries to quit the life; bigger, badder gangster makes it impossible for original gangster to have a fresh start; gangster war ensues.
Mitchel (Farrell) is a bit too unemotional to be the bravado-fueled gangster protagonist most of these films glorify. He does get to drive nice cars, sleep with beautiful women and wear nice suits, though. Knowing where the film is headed from the start, the slow setup feels unnecessary. The ending of the film gets a bit more exciting as the bigger, badder gangster, Gant (Ray Winstone), earns the audience’s scorn.
The film is the directorial debut of William Monahan, who was a screenwriter for The Departed. It’s unapologetically brutal and filled with coarse language. So, with lookers like Knightley and Farrell, why be so stingy on the nudity?
London Boulevard is available on IFC Films on Demand and will be released in limited theaters on November 11.
