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Bookmark this pageCity Rats (2009)
Director: Steve Kelly
Movie review
From Time Out London
With about as much reliable insight into the human condition as a stack of old ‘Dear Deirdre…’ columns, ‘City Rats’ haphazardly tails a pack of tenuously linked London down-and-outs as they soul-search, emote and swear their way across the capital. It’s a terrible film, so blithely wrong-headed in its execution that some scenes are quite entertaining in an ‘is this really happening?’ kind of way. Take, for instance, the bit where shame-faced gay party boy Olly (Kenny Doughty) is looking after his autistic, deaf, dumb and latently homosexual brother Chris (James Lance) for the evening. Leading him through Soho, Olly picks up a rent boy and then – for reasons unknown – demands that he sit in as his deaf, dumb and latently homosexual brother is stripped of his virginity. The performances are mostly of the frenzied, soap-opera sort, save for Susan Lynch, who is likeable as a sass-talking ‘crippled whore’.Author: David Jenkins
Time Out London Issue 2018, April 23-29, 2009
User reviews of this film
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- JIm Dog said...
- Posted on May 07 2009 10:57 Look, it's film about the underside (albeit an invention) of London. Just enjoy its strange darkness and the nice cinematography. Stop the middle calass waffle....it's boring.
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- Bob said...
- Posted on May 04 2009 16:55 The is an intelligent well crafted film at times funny and at times moving. Unfortunately some of the audences expected a shoot `em up and have no patience to watch the threads come apart or together as the film unfolds. This has the possibiltiies to be a cult movie.
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- bo said...
- Posted on May 03 2009 19:40 ^this lot must be on the payroll. The film is dire.
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- Ricky said...
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Posted on Apr 30 2009 13:49
JENKINS you clearly do not realise that actors can diverse from their typicalroles, the film was fantastic and the acting was top notch!
i dont understand why this great film is being reviewd so negitively, the only reason i can think of it that it was advertised as a 'business' type film, but was not, and that was the fault of 'Revolver' not the director/writer/actors! - Report as inappropriate
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- Anita said...
- Posted on Apr 29 2009 21:35 What is Jenkins on about? I think he protests too much, it was great to see Dyer and Hassan step out of their 'Business' type roles. it was meant to be a dark and emotionally depressing film. Technically, brilliantly shot with dramatic scenes. Love the film. See it for yourself, the critics have got it wrong!!!!
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- Serina said...
- Posted on Apr 29 2009 21:10 City Rats was a beautifully shot film, especially since it was shot on a low budget. High praises to the director, Steve Kelly. The stroylines were very dark and true to life depressing. All eight stories were unique, with some cleverly intertwined. It was great to see Dyer and Hussan playing different characters to their norm. Fab film, fab cast, FAB overall.
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- Terry said...
- Posted on Apr 29 2009 20:20 A wonderful film, deeply moving. The human condition - a long way down! The linkages between stories work beautifully - especially the in the final scene.
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- Richard said...
- Posted on Apr 29 2009 15:25 I must disagree witht the review of CITY RATS, the film is emotional and moving. the comment about the 'Dear Deirdre...' columns is somewhat harsh as it is, after all a film feature that was not intended to mirror the real life of the majority!
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Cast & crew
Director: Steve Kelly
Cast: Danny Dyer, Kenny Doughty, Tamer Hassan, James Lance, Susan Lynch, Ray Panthaki full cast
Rated: 18
Duration: 92 mins
UK Release: Apr 24 2009
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