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Bookmark this pageFor Queen and Country (1988)
Director: Martin Stellman
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
For his debut as a director, Stellman (script-writer on Quadrophenia, Babylon and Defence of the Realm) has produced an ambitious but disappointing piece about class and race in 'Thatcher's Britain'. His storyline concerns Reuben, a Falklands war hero whose return to a dreadfuly run-down South London council block is marked by rejection from white cops and the blacks with whom he grew up. When the immigration authorities inform Reuben, who was born in St Lucia, that he's no longer officially a British citizen, something snaps. Stellman's script contains an intelligent appraisal of a country divided more subtly by loyalty and habit than the media often realise. But the choice of Washington doesn't help: he isn't bad in the part, but his accent strays absurdly. More worrying is the often corny plotting, the by now tired-looking exploitation of Broadwater violence, and a preposterous shootout ending. Stellman's direction is often as sluggish as the daily routines of his protagonists.Author: SGr
User reviews of this film
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- bandit said...
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Posted on Mar 25 2009 20:56
was an amazing insight into the period
maybe 2 raw for genral public
but very clever - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Martin Stellman
Producer: Tim Bevan
Cast: Denzel Washington, Dorian Healy, Amanda Redman, Sean Chapman, Bruce Payne, George Baker full cast
Duration: 106 mins
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