Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

vchimpanzee In this fact-based movie, London is on fire. The cops are doing their best to contain the chaos, but it's difficult. One month earlier, a group of cops storm an apartment and arrest some people. I'm not clear on what's going on or whether it has a connection with the title event. Damien is a cynical cop who doesn't quite fit the ideal image of the "bobby". He can be nice, but if you're one of the bad guys, you don't want to mess with him. Even if he doesn't always do the right thing, he supports helping the city deal with crime. One of Damien's friends steals from a bar where Damien's girlfriend works. I think that's who she is. Eventually, Damien's girlfriend wants to break up. Three weeks before the title event, Damien has a pretty new female partner. Yes, that may mean what you think. The partner has a disabled father who was a victim of violence but wants to be as independent as possible. We get to see some of the cops' more interesting cases. One child won't go to school, putting his mother's benefits in jeopardy. The kid claims the elevator doesn't work, so he and the cops have to climb up seventeen stories. Another case involves a young soccer fan whose father is in Afghanistan. He is bullied for rooting for the wrong team. What happens with this kid may be related to the riot, but I'm not sure. A black man gets pulled over for a traffic offense. I think we see him again for some other reason. We also see a kid with a soccer ball in a parking garage. We keep going back to him, so what happens to him is not happening when the other events do. Two weeks before ... One week before ...I don't know what happens at each of these times. I'm just saying we are told this. Not in a way that really makes clear what is happening when. One hour before ... I'm not at all certain what is going on or what the connection is to the title event. Between the accents and the curse words that get bleeped, it's difficult for me to follow anything. What I do know is there are tragedies connected with the title event. This movie has some pleasant moments, even a few laughs. But mostly it is depressing. And when there is violence, it is quite graphic. No guns. Just fists. The leading actors seem to do a good job and I'm sure the writing is well done. This just isn't the sort of thing I can enjoy.

GUENOT PHILIPPE I am not surprised that so many people are disappointed by this film. They expected a cop thriller, an action flick probably, and instead they watched a complex and also confused psychological drama about violence, hooligans and the tough reality to be a cop when you have yourself major family problems. I was myself confused by the editing. To speak truly, I was lost, although I got the whole thing. I think it is a too ambitious but not enough monitored script. But certainly not uninteresting at all. Some pricks who don't understand it will say that's a bad movie. Shame on them. This is just an editing issue that jeopardizes the whole stiff and makes it too complicated for most of the audiences. Some very disturbing sequences, such as the female cop rape, in the underground parking. This film is far better than the ones which Simon Philips usually plays in. In summary, don't expect any gunshots or gangsters, but only brutality, cops and hooligans. A typical British noir social drama from UK. A trade mark for this country.

m-elle-kat Don't let the bad rating deter you from seeing this film. I didn't have high expectations for this film but it turned out to be very good. It is a VERY depressing and disturbing film and really made my blood boil (especially the rape scene.) It reveals the grisly and nasty depravity that exists on the streets of London (mainly in the 'pleb'ian class.) I really hope that circumstances aren't as bad as depicted because it makes Jane and Finch look like Mr. Rogers neighbourhood. I remember the stories my teachers told us when they taught in England. They told horror stories of kids who were unfathomably violent and grotesque. England and Canada have very different cultures in some ways. I don't believe all of England is like this, probably big cities and whatnot. The level of depravity demonstrated in this film is very disturbing. Craftful way of arranging the sequences. Excellent acting. Overall, it makes you think about a lot of things, which is a very good thing.

robertasmith Cinema always takes liberties with the truth but this film is just awful. The depiction of the Met Police is so wildly inaccurate it is almost laughable. Where do I start? Berkoff is far too old to play the senior police officer and his acting is confused and unconvincing.The police officers, supposedly in the same unit/division, have different shoulder flashes, one with CO and a number (which means commissioners office) and some with just a number. They seem to patrol huge swathes of the metropolis both as tactical support and ordinary beat bobbies. There is so much more that is badly researched and portrayed.If you can ignore all these howlers, you still have to believe that a football thug, with a father in prison, is a police officer. You can do that except for the fact he still has his only friends in that social setting and still acts like a thug when he is in the pub and around them.The final scene where he beats to death one of his old friends in front of another 10 or so, is just barking mad, as are the scenes where he gets people off, or gives prisoners a severe beating.I am not naive. Some of these things no doubt happen on rare occasions, but to have one rogue police officer commit so many offences is just totally unbelievable.The tragedy is, there is the germ of a good story here, but it is ruined by wooden acting, a poorly researched screenplay, jerky direction that lacks continuity or purpose and very poor production values.