Lack of pace in decent '44 Inch Chest'

While this British thriller is good for the most part, certainly during its opening period, you end up wishing the characters would get on with doing what they intended to do from the outset.

Fri, 15 Jan, 2010 - 12:51

Director: Malcolm Venville

Cast: Ray Winstone, Joanne Whalley, Melvil Poupaud, Ian McShane, Tom Wilkinson, John Hurt

Cert: 18

While this British thriller is good for the most part, certainly during its opening period, you end up wishing the characters would get on with doing what they intended to do from the outset.

Instead, in a film more suited for a stage setting, they sit around debating what to do with a kidnap victim.

Winstone plays London hood Colin Diamond whose wife (Whalley) is leaving him for a French chef (Poupaud). Colin kidnaps the hapless lover and is joined by his gang for the plot-slowing sit-in and the subsequent slide into madness.

It’s more of a psychological thriller, the term most attached to films when there’s little action and even less thrills … so stop talking and get on with it!

Star Rating: 3/5