Rollin' with the Nines (2006) Reviews

• yet another amateurish debut British feature… ...........................

  malcomxmanz2006-05-28

  Rollin' with the Nines (RWTNs) is a British made independent feature that it being sold on the tag line of being 'the first black British gangsta film', and for this reason alone it makes it highly exciting and an original cinema event. The film starts simply (showing lots of guns being loaded) and by introducing us to the main characters, which are black 'street' hustlers & the rest are white middle-class 'cops'. The film is set in London (many locations are used including Brixton) and tries to show us the current issue of the day that is 'black on black' gun crime and it's truly tragic results. The films set-up is simple: there's a murder, revenge, drugs to be sold for serious cash, car chases, hip-hop soundtrack, serious violence, bent coppers, a love scene & the nicest looking one makes it out alive at the end through all the carnage etc etc. It's way more Hollywood than indie-Brit-flick (which it wants be), more reminiscent of U.S. produced 1980's studio-revenge-action than anything else. What initially appears to set it apart from any previous similar efforts is the fact that it appears to be a black film aimed at a mass cinema going audience: out of the urban into mainstream, kinda thing… The biggest questions open here are what is the connection between black culture, urban society and the rise of street gun crime in the U.K. The film uses 'drugs' as an obvious link to drive the film on its simplistic narrative course of endless extreme violence. Drugs are used (yet again), as a simple plot device, and just the presents of their either powdered-form visual allows complete dictation and authority for all actions and bloody assaults etc. In London, the problems with drugs and gun crime - like this film tries to direct us, are solely linked to those who live in the most deprived 'black' areas – There is no denying that a major problem exists in such areas, but the impression left is that gun/drug crime rarely extends beyond them, and if so is only an export from the inner cities. Even the most basic of research shows that this is very misleading. The first major problem that this film runs into is one of stigma ethics. In recent social-ethical debates it has been made clear that many black 'urban' Londoners feel too greatly over stigmatised and scapegoated by 'gun crime' media publicity (like this film portrays) being so consistent with its strongly enforced 'black-on-black' tag. The quasi-moral code here is: black urban societies regardless, must shoulder some of the guilt for any black related gang/gun crime. This film simply enforces this irresponsible, unresearched theorem for the big screen. At a recent screening of RWTNs, the director appeared next to his fellow cast members to give an after screening Q&A session. Whilst the cast came off as likable and humorous during the Q&A; the director (who is white and seemed very upper class) didn't seem to do himself any favours by speaking with arrogant and pretentious comments, pointing out things like: that due to his 'accent', he was obviously never from an urban society background etc….not very interesting nor inspiring. It should also be noted that many of the numerous 'glowing' reviews written about this film here have been written by either friends/family or those associated with the actual film's production – this has become quite a standard affair with web movie-reviewing, but is still somewhat obvious to most. It is inevitable than that at one point a film like this should appear on our screens, but being black and from Peckham myself, I cannot help feeling that this film, due to a narrative/direction failure, cannot even make it's mind up about being either realist or just a 'movie'. All issues touched briefly in this film are too serious for just a 'movie' version to be created. My guess is that it is not concerned with any real social message or reason, (like the publicity claims) mostly through ignorance – the reality is that this is a Brit indie crime/gangster film that happens to feature black actors in leading roles. The films lacks the rawness and emotion display of Saul Dibb's 2004 film 'Bullet Boy' – there is not one performance in RWTNs that comes close to this level of intelligent direction - and on the whole, the actors (some well known, others new faces) either under perform or poorly act out undeveloped characters. This is always a shame to see - given their professional backgrounds, which made me wonder again about what the director was really doing (setting up the big shoot-outs?) - there really is more to storytelling than just close-ups of guns being endlessly loaded to a blastin' soundtrack…I can't be the only one who feels this way?? The driving role of its tag-line that a third of all British murders will be 'black on black gun crime'- is nothing more than cheap publicity for yet another amateurish debut British feature…

• Familiar ground has been treaded before, but this is still a powerful and hard-hitting film

  davideo-22006-04-25

  STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits Too Fine (Simon Webbe of boy band Blue) and his friends Finny (Vas Blackwood), Pushy (Robbie Gee) and Rage (Roffem Morgan) have formed an underground garage group called Too Fine and are hoping to make it into the big leagues. But it all goes tragically wrong when he is murdered by a rival gang leader over an unpayed street debt from his time selling rock on the streets. To make matters worse, with him gone, the weight of that burden falls on the shoulders of his sister Hope (Naomi Taylor) who is then beaten up and raped by his killer, with a promise of worse things to come if the debt is not settled soon. However, realizing there is no realistic way to settle the debt in time and to seek revenge for her brother's murder and her rape, she visits the man early one morning and blasts him to death. The dust seems to settle a little after this, until she learns that one of the man's top suppliers, gangster David Brumby (Billy Murray) has now lost a valuable source of income. Suggesting they work together instead of against each other, they split the difference and Hope and her brother's friends hit the streets again to sell the poison that got them by in the first place. However after an horrific nightclub shooting at the hands of Pushy and Rage in retaliation for Too Fine's murder, two persistent detectives start getting on their backs and it's only a matter of time before everything threatens to come crashing down around them. This small, independent British gangster film has won acclaim at numerous Film Festivals and such, but has had an extremely limited distribution on it's release over here. But like other film's of it's sort, despite it's faults, it's destined to be one of those little seen gems that always gets this sort of distribution. It's a film with a great sense of style, slickly shot and cleverly edited, as well as what is surely a very real depiction of the lives of those it is based around. It also delivers the goods in terms of being hard-hitting and powerful when it needs to be, with some strong, blood-thirsty violence with a lot of loud bangs present in some scenes. However it is the performances that are really noteworthy. Taylor has a certain sexiness to her in her role, a sort of strong black woman type which has appeal. Murray as Brumby is okay, but as soon as I saw him, I couldn't help but think of him as Johnny Allan from East Enders and hearing him use words like 'f*ck' and 'c*nt' really felt funny, especially as he says them in front of a lady, when you think of what a gentleman he's supposed to be in real life. Blackwood, Gee, Morgan and Webbe (making his film debut in what is a very small role) just sort of do what the script requires and fade into the background a little, but Terry Stone as one of the detectives has a good main role. As I said, it has it's faults. It's not the most original sort of film we've been seeing at the moment, it's a bit excessive at times and it feels a little overlong. But if anywhere near you's showing it, it's a little released urban gem that's worth seeking out and seeing. ****

• Morally Dubious UK film...

  Jaunty20062006-05-04

  There is no doubt that this film sticks in the mind. But it is most defiantly a film that will split opinions down the middle. Violent and morally dubious this film turns the stomach. The direction is confident but the rape scene will unsettle to the point of nausea, as will the frequent violence. But there's just something else about this film. Something highly unsettling. I can't put my finger on in it but there's something that just makes you feel… dirty. And I'm no prude. Mostly the cast is good but it's all a bit lock stock for my liking. Special mention to Terry Stone who is very good, if occasionally over reliant on the dreaded C word but Vas Blackwood and Jayson Fleming just seem like they are sleep walking through there doubtless well paid roles. Technically proficient, well made and with a certain sheen that most UK films lack this film has more than it's fair share of stand out moments. But as I said it leaves you feeling... dirty.

• It's Gangsta time Blood!

  freemantle_uk2012-02-20

  Gangster films are a stable of the British film industry, with many crime films coming out in some form or another each year. It is often a safe bet to make it a debut feature, but every few people could match the success of Guy Ritchie or Matthew Vaughn. Too Fine (Simon Webb), Pusher (Robbie Gee) and Rage (Roffem Morgan) are three friends who seem to make it out of the ghetto and on the edge of becoming underground rap stars. But one night Too Fine is shot dead and his sister Hope (Naomi Taylor) is raped and threaten by a drug dealer, Temper (Patrick Regis). Hope gets her revenge and Pusher, Rage and their friend Finny (Vas Blackwood) take control of Temper's operation for a drug kingpin (Billy Murray) after killing his crew. But on the case of is police detective (Terry Stone), wanting to get them killing a young waitress in a club shooting and use any method to get them. Director Julian Gilbey is seen as a raising star as a director and he does have some talent, he can work with a budget, he can deliver on action and keeps the film going at a fast pace. The action scene in the gun runner's house looked and felt very much like a similar scene in Bad Boys 2 and there is a solid car chase in the countryside. But this is a very unfocused film, not knowing whether to focus on Hope and the crew or the police investigate, the scene in the gun runner's house felt like it belonged in a different film and that the crew were not on screen for quiet awhile. It could have easily have been about Hope who after getting raped and her revenge becomes a female gangster and the crew rise and fall but Hope still having the trauma of the rape in the back of her mind. Or it could have been about a dirty/corrupt cop who after seeing an innocent person gets killed or injured has a moral crisis as they investigate the crime. Rollin' With the Nines also felt very much like it was trying to be an American film, including the police detectives having guns, when only specialist armed units in the police are allowed to use guns in the UK and the police ranks are very American, like using Detective and Captain instead Detective Sergeant and Superintendent or DCI. This is also a film that enjoyed violence, using a lot of blood instead of being a more realistic tone I believe that the filmmakers were trying to aim for. Rollin' With the Nines almost felt like an non well written version of The Wire, focusing on a duel narrative about a police investigation and different ranking gangster in a drug operation and the police even using a homeless crack addict as an informant, even if the relationship is different. The acting throughout is pretty weak. The best performance came from Simon Webb which is very surprising because he is a pop singer and he dies in the first 10 minutes. The black characters are speak in typical 'ghetto' speak, using slang all the time and because of their different ages they did not even look like they should be friends. The police are simply geezers who break the rules and it seem like the film was trying to have it both ways, showing the police to be corrupt and willing to sell drugs for their own profit but want to do the right thing, bring down big drugs rings and murders. Rollin' With the Nines suffers from having no likable characters; they are violence or corrupt and have few redeeming features. If it was meant to be a story about the corrupting affects of crime on both sides or that they are no good guys in this world, but it did not success on that front. And because of the unfocused nature of the film it felt like it did not know who the protagonist is and there for who the audience is meant to route for. Rollin' With the Nines shows that Gilbey had some potential behind the camera, but needed more focus on a character and story level. He also had a problem of being too violence, enjoying using the blood packs a bit too much. But you can do a lot worst then this film.

• This will turn your stomach for all the wrong reasons!

  chrichtonsworld2010-02-16

  This movie lacks all the proper elements that make a good gangster movie. In fact I can say that this movie is proof of the fact that violence alone doesn't make a good movie. There are too many scenes that are just too much that story wise easily could have been avoided. One scene with Naomi Taylor did give some motive of her actions following the crime she is subjected to. Only I could not shake the feeling that almost everything in the movie was illogical and unrealistic. "Rolling with the nines" is a beautifully choreographed mess. With no real main character it is very difficult to invoke sympathy for any lead. The movies goes from one event to another,from one character to another and it never gets clear who we are supposed to follow. Maybe it was me but I couldn't sense any good in any of the characters. Almost all of them did repulsive questionable things. There is one action scene that stands out and is one of the highlights of the movie. The other good thing was the very brief appearance of Billy Murray. Other than that I would suggest to ignore this movie since it is one of the worst gangster movies ever made!