44 Inch Chest is written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, the duo that also write the clever Brit crime film Sexy Beast. There is a good amount of that earlier film in this (it is a story about the domestic lives of underworld wiseguys, there's a lot of talking about mundane stuff, the characters are clearly dark and dirty), but overall it lacks the brightness and joy of that first film.
This is a one-room play that I could easily imagine having been adapted from the stage to the screen (although I do think it's original). Colin (Ray Winstone), a criminal, is furious that his wife has decided to leave him for a younger guy. He panics and goes crazy tearing apart his house. His underworld buddies, Meredith (Ian McShane), Archie (Tom Wilkinson), Peanut (John Hurt) and Mal (Stephen Dillane) all sit with him around their clubhouse talking about his options (kill the guy who slept with his wife or let him live) and razzing one another. Ultimately they get the guy into the house and beat him up before talking more about other stuff.
There is almost no action in this film and it is super talky. It's a writers/actors piece with very minimal directing. The cast is clearly fantastic and they are all really good in their roles. McShane's character is gay, apparently, and he talks about fucking men and the relative sizes of their dicks. This is sorta funny, but is really just cheap, though his delivery is fabulous. John Hurt, who looks older than his 70 years, is very funny and and very good. This might be the perfect role for him now, as he gets to be old, cranky, drunk and swear a lot for it.
There is basically no violence in the picture, despite the crime world setting. By the time we see the guy who cheated with Colin's wife, he has already been beaten up and has dried blood caked to his face. This is certainly not nice to see, but it's interesting the way it's presented (this clearly is good work from director Malcolm Venville) so we only get the talking and shouting after the hitting, but not the action itself.
I think I wanted more out of this film. It's really not bad at all, it's just not what I expected. It's pretty funny and clever, I think it's just a bit boring. I like what it's trying to do, but I'm not sure I love the execution. It seems like a bit showy to have such a big cast and just have them talk the whole time in a single room. I guess there's nothing wrong with this, but I think it could have been more.
Stars: 2 o f 4
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