Spivs

Starring: Ken Stott, Nick Moran Original UK Premiere: 2004 Dvd Release: 25th April, 2005 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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If you like the current TV series Hustle then youll probably enjoy this as it has a similar vibe.

There wasnt any publicity, as far as I could tell, when this British film came out in cinemas, nationwide, a few months ago. The fact that a low budget Brit-flick made it to the big screen at all is quite an achievement so its a pity that the press alowed it to fade without giving it any help. Shame on you Jonathan Ross!

Its not as heavy on the cutting-edge cool-cynicism as the likes of Lock Stock & Layer Cake but it should get credit for trying to go a little deeper into the human story of its characters. There is at times almost an Ealingesque quality to it which I warmed to immediately. However, there is also an unflinching hard edge to the story which shows itself quite unexpectedly & effectively some way through the film.

There are a couple comic turns from the likes of Paul Kaye & Jack Dee while the solid Ken Stott is ably backed up by Nick Moran, Kate Ashfield & Dominic Monaghan. I expect to see a lot more from Nick Moran in years to come. All in all, there is much to recommend this film & I will certainly be buying the DVD.

Incidentally, I believe that Director Colin Teague is now completing his next film project The Last Drop a WWII action/caper. Perhaps that film will have better luck with press coverage when it gets released. In the meantime dont miss out on this well kept little secret!

Ken Stott is a Scottish film & television actor, particularly known in the United Kingdom for his many roles in the latter medium. Born Kenneth Campbell Stott in 1955 in Edinburgh, his father was a Scot & his mother was Sicilian. For three years in his youth he was a member of a band called Keyhole, members of which later went on to form the Bay City Rollers. After attending Mountview Theatre School in London, Stott began working in the theatre for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the age of twenty, but for some years his earnings from acting were minimal & he was forced to support himself by also working as a double glazing salesman. This is echoed in the character he plays in Takin Over the Asylum. He appeared in small roles in BBC series such as The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, Secret Army & Dennis Potter s The Singing Detective, before he eventually began to earn starring roles on television in the 1990s.

Editors Choice: Messiah, Spivs, Dockers, The Debt Collector, View DVDology

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