Film Review: PIGGY (2012)

Writer/Director: Kieron Hawkes
Running time: 102 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Drama/Thriller
UK Release date: 4^th May 2012

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 19^th May 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is one of those films I heard about on the BBC Radio 4 Film Programme. It’s a bit of an ‘arty’ film show that tends to focus more on British and art-house films. Even so, I’m always interested in what they have to say and this one came quite highly recommended. As usual, I watched it without looking at any reviews or scores on various web sites and I was surprised when I came to write my review just how poorly it had been received! I found it a lot better than the scores would have you believe; it’s far from prefect, but it’s certainly better than the 1/10 that Rotten Tomatoes seems to think it deserves! But I digress, here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

Joe (Martin Compston) is a shy young man living and working in London. He idolises his big brother John (Neil Maskell) who looks out for him. But his world falls apart when John is killed by a gang of men who he had been having a spot of trouble with in a local pub. Joe is devastated and even Clair (Louise Dylan), a friend, can’t console him. Enter Piggy (Paul Anderson), who claims to be an old friend of John’s from school. He takes Joe under his wing and teaches him all about life in the big city; how to avoid trouble and how to cope should the need arise. Piggy wants to help Joe in other ways too (no, not like that), he wants to give Joe his revenge for his brother. To this end they begin to track down the five men responsible. One by one Piggy takes his revenge as Joe watches on; but what effect is all this having on Joe? How will this change him?

I found this very dark with extreme levels of violence, For the most part the acts of violence are not actually shown on the screen, they are alluded to enough to make you cringe though. Great performances all round, particularly from Paul Anderson; he played the part superbly! Martin Compston wasn’t all that bad either! As revenge thrillers go, this may not be the best, but it’s certainly one of the darkest I’ve seen in a long time. Maybe it’s just too dark and that’s the trouble with it; I found myself looking at my watch in places which is never a good sign. Certainly worth seeing for Paul Anderson’s performance but definitely not one for the squeamish.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED (Just)

My score: 5.9/10.

IMDb Score: 5.2/10 (based on 254 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951218/

MetaScore: No Data: (Based on 0 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 10/100 (based on 10 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 37/100 (based on 60 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/piggy/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PiggyTheFilm
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/PiggyTheFilm
Trailer:

Film Review: FOUR (2011)

Director: John Langridge
Writer: Paul Chronnell
Running time: 85 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Drama/Thriller
UK Release date: 21^st October 2011

Watched on Sky+ Monday 3^rd September 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have to say I knew nothing at all about this film when I hit the play button. I had been intrigued by the write-up in the TV guide and that was enough to whet my appetite. A very staged drama, it soon grabbed my attention but I can’t say I was exactly gripped all the way through. I will tell you more after this extremely brief summary.

When a jealous husband discovers his wife is having an affair, he hires an unscrupulous private detective to find the lover. This man is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned factory so the husband can have a few choice words. On arrival the detective tells him he has taken the liberty of also kidnapping his wife so he might encourage her to see the error of her ways also. They are held in separate parts of the building, tied to chairs with bags over their heads. The husband starts with the lover… but there’s a twist in the tale. I really don’t want to give any more away and so I’ll leave it there.

A film that very much relies on the performances to provide the impact; and I must say they’re all pretty good. So I’ll give honourable mentions to; Martin Compston as the lover, Craig Conway as the husband, Sean Pertwee (yes he is the son of former Dr. Who Jon Pertwee) as the detective and Kierston Wareing as the wife.

Plenty of twists and turns in this very wordy plot; but not one that will leave you gasping trying to figure out. It’s all pretty straight forward once certain revelations are made. After a nice beginning I felt it lost a bit of momentum over the middle third, but picked up again towards the end. Admittedly it’s not an original theme but I thought it was quite nicely done, if a little weak here and there. There is some very robust language so please be aware of this. Over all, pretty well made with some nice performances but it does suffer a little towards the middle.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED (Just)… Could have been better though…

My score: 5.7/10

IMDb Score: 3.5/10 (based on 32,290 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1645074/

MetaScore: No Data: (Based on 0 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 17/100 (based on 6 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 0/100 ‘Liked It’ (based on 72 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/771254132/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
None available… (Shame because there was some good dialogue in this one…)

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.fourthefilm.com/
Official Site: http://fourthefilm.com/
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fourthefilm?ref=ts
Trailer: