Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster

2012 "Gangster. Media darling. Model citizen."
6.1| 1h45m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 27 April 2012 Released
Producted By: IFC Films
Country: Mexico
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Based on a real WWII vet and family man turned bank robber. Disillusioned by his post war circumstances, Eddie Boyd is torn between the need to provide for his young family and an unfulfilled dream to head to Hollywood to become a star. He discovers a way to do both, robbing banks Hollywood style, but his dream leads him down a path of danger and tragedy.

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Reviews

ThiefHott Too much of everything
ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre
Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
SnoopyStyle Edwin Boyd (Scott Speedman) is a WWII vet driving the bus. He has Hollywood dreams. He feels trapped in his life with his wife Doreen (Kelly Reilly) and his kids. One day, he simply walks away from his job. Money problems pile up but he keeps his acting dreams. After overhearing more putdowns from his father Glover (Brian Cox), he goes rob a bank and tells his wife that he got an acting job. Detective David Rhys (William Mapother) is put on the case. After getting caught, he is unrepentant. He escapes with fellow bank robbers Lenny Jackson (Kevin Durand) and Willie 'The Clown' Jackson (Brendan Fletcher). With Val Kozak (Joseph Cross), the crew wrecks havoc across Toronto.It's a slow prodding movie in the beginning. The colors are drained from the screen. It's like a world seen through Edwin Boyd's eyes. It's a tired world that justifies his need for excitement. It's an interesting choice by director Nathan Morlando. It brings a coldness to the world. However if that's the point, I would expect more colors after he starts robbing banks. I'm just guessing anyways. Without a doubt, Speedman is doing some good work. It's a nice small Canadian drama.
Bantam Okay, the movie is based on a true story (a fad nowadays, it seems), and it most certainly has its moments. But in general the entire flick lacks some panache. If it were a Canadian province, I'd say it's (northern) Manitoba on a Tuesday night.While the main protagonist is portrayed rather decently, as well as his 'transformation' the rest of the movie is a bit stale and dry - I'd go so far to say clinically clean. Yeah, I get it, he's quite a normal guy, a victim of circumstance and all, trying to make ends meet and all. And I dig the story, but it's like eating a loaf of dry bread - you satisfy your hunger but without much joy. Personally I think the director (maybe as writer, too), tried a bit too hard to make it "arty" and forgot that a movie also should be entertaining, otherwise it's just bland ol' life. I'll keep the director in mind, maybe his next flick will be less Manitoba and more Québec.
K V First 10 minutes or so is OK, then movie turns into melodrama. Quite frankly Edwin Boyd is probably flipping in his grave at how stupid this movie is. Either way, story has nothing at all to do with reality of one of Canada's best known bank robbers. Watch the movie, then go read wikipedia entry on him. I expected either mostly accurate portrayal of Edwin Boyd's life as bank robber, or decent story, this movie is neither.If they released this as TV movie, without connecting it to a real person, perhaps it would have been passable movie, maybe 5/10, but when you expect to see movie about killer shark, and instead you wind up watching kid and a dolphin for 2 hours, waiting on killer shark to kill them both, and that shark never appears in entire movie, ... well, you see where this is going.
clarkj-565-161336 I did not really sync with this movie until Boyd stopped his bus to carry on a wounded vet who was in a wheel chair. He carried him over his back. The faces in the bus were all blank and without expression, you would think risking your life for your country was worth at least some feeling. I can remember growing up in Canada in the 50s, everyone had a stiff upper lip, very few ever talked about WWII. My uncle least of all, until his son, a fireman, was killed saving a man from a burning apartment. Suddenly his days on Malta during the German blitz came back. The movie captured the chill of post WWII and the bleak Victorian like atmosphere in Toronto. The scenes from the Don Jail were totally Gothic, even now the mention of the jail sends shivers down your spine. Nowadays, our wars are fought without declaration, our soldiers are sent to places where they don't even know who the enemy is. We expect that our society will be protected by superheros. The truth is that ordinary people fight for our freedom without fanfare, and unfortunately often with no support when they come home. This movie was a perfect description of this.