Empire State

Outside the futuristic Empire State nightclub in London's docklands, yuppie housing developments and fly-by-night warehousing projects are rapidly replacing the old working class communities. Wide boy Paul (Sears) tries to set up a deal with American businessman Chuck (Landau), but his plans to cut former boss Frank (McAnally) out of the game seriously underestimate the strength of old East End money. The fates of a chorus of minor characters criss-cross one another before finally converging on the club, where the rivalry between Paul and Frank explodes into primitive bare knuckles pugilism. For all its stylised images and electro muzak, the film's two-dimensional characters are simply static figures in what wants to be a hard-edged Hollywood-style thriller, but is in fact a cold hi-tech design. A brave but flawed attempt to escape the straitjacket of British realism.