Essex Boys (2000)

Very well executed

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Outstanding British gangster/crime flick. Giving it a full ten because it has one fairly sympathetic character in the plot--I am getting a bit tired or more current films in which every single protagonist is despicable. I really like movies like this, because, while it is admittedly a work of fiction, I really do believe that it captures the essence of how serious criminals behave and makes me very glad that I have always steered clear of them. Unlike so many crime thriller/dramas, it would be very difficult for me to imagine that anyone watching this movie would feel that it glorifies crime or criminal behavior, while it still delivers generous servings action and suspense. There is no Godfather-like mystique or whatever it is that people like about that movie here. This movie is excellent, but you wouldn't want anything to do with these people in real life, which is how it actually is with dangerous criminals in the real world. Pretty much everybody in this movie is so unappealing that this film might even work as a "Scared Straight" sort of thing. There is no glamor here, just really unpredictable, greedy, blood-thirsty, power-hungry psychopaths mostly getting their just deserts eventually. In summary, an exceptionally well-done and compelling cautionary tale about really undesirable people doing really undesirable things which will make you glad that we have laws designed to protect those of us unlike this from those of us like this.

This shows the life of three gangsters through the eyes of their driver as they meet their untimely death.The film is a British gangster classic and captures the hard and gritty life of the Essex drug gangs, the film captures Jason Locke an ex-con who has come out of prison ready to start up his empire. The characters lack depth and seem to only love violence and drugs, then again thats all gangsters; the shoot out in the Land Rover however was an eye opener and kept me watching...There are odd appearances from veteran British actors every now and then which keep the film going....All in a ll a violent gangster movie...nothing more.

A good film on several levels. The unflattering comparisons that some critics have made between it and The Usual Suspects are completely misguided as directorial intent and effect in the two pictures are dissimilar. Winsor's film, it seems to me, brilliantly evokes both the drabness and cruelty of the criminal mindset. It does this partly through the choice of dull, flat Essex landscapes with their coastal marshes, grey motorway links, flash nouveau riche mansions and the tawdry glamour of seafront locations. The characters are both repellent and yet curiously mesmerising. This is not a film in which it is easy to lose interest. Nobody can do psycho-thug better than Sean Bean, and Charlie Creed-Miles has created a dangerously weak character as Billy, whom it is almost possible to feel sorry for without actually liking. The film is very well lit, though I did find sound levels a little dodgy at times It's a film that, despite critics' comments, is not a million miles from Get Carter in quality.

This movie had all the elements of an action/drama, murder, betrayal, more murder, some drugs, underground gang activity, more betrayal, violence... The plot is interesting, based on actual events in the underground, but we all know how things get blown out of proportion and prettied up for the big screen. Sean Bean was dynamic as Jason Locke. Alex Kingston brilliantly portrayed his vengeful wife and let's not forget Charlie Creed-Miles, as the not so intelligent lackey, Billy.In the end, maybe we'll find that the underground is a woman's world.... or maybe not.