| HACKNEY MASSIVE : Saul Dibb's Bullet Boy [6/10] |
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| Monday, 28 March 2005 | |
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Hackney 19-year-old Ricky (Ashley Walters) is released from a Youth Offenders' Institute after being convicted on an assault charge. He's determined to go straight, not least because he wants to set a positive example to his adoring, 12-year-old brother Curtis (Luke Fraser). But his friendship with volatile, gun-toting best-pal Wisdom (Leon Black) rapidly gets him back into trouble - to the alarm of his long-suffering mother Beverley (Clare Perkins) and girlfriend Shea (Sharea-Mounira Samuels). Against his better judgement, Ricky takes custody of Wisdom's revolver - and it isn't long before the firearm falls into Curtis's small hands... As this synopsis makes clear, Bullet Boy breaks little new narrative ground: cinemagoers and TV watchers will be very familiar with such tales of immature youths in hostile urban environments, who find themselves in a cycle of crime (John Singleton's Baby Boy presents an American take on similar characters and circumstances). The presence of an innocent, wide-eyed younger sibling, meanwhile, is a sure-fire sign that tragedy is hovering just around the next dimly-lit corner. But debutant director Dibb and his co-scripwriter Catherine R Johnson manage to give potentially (ahem) Hackneyed material sufficient freshness to avoid the pitfalls of predictability and sentimentality. Crucially, Curtis gets hold of Wisdom's gun much earlier that we expect, and the consequences of his actions are handled with admirable restraint and a refreshing absence of melodrama. Indeed, the title applies just as much to Curtis as it does to Ricky - the narrative focus is split surprisingly equally between the two brothers - and young Fraser matches his older co-star every step of the way. He should at least have shared the Best Newcomer prize won by Walters at the latest British Independent Film Awards - not least because Walters is much less of a 'newcomer' than screen-debutant Fraser, with a couple of supporting roles in British romantic comedies to his name and a long list of TV credits. He's nevertheless best known under his nom de rap of 'Asher D' as a member of the ever-controversial So Solid Crew collective - and 'solid' nicely sums his contribution to this impressively no-nonsense and hard-hitting, topical drama. Neil Young 28th March, 2005 BULLET BOY : [6/10] : UK 2004 : Saul DIBB : 89 mins seen at Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK), 21st March 2005 - press show originally rated 7/10, but downgraded after further reflection, 10th Oct 2005 |
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