Mjeteconer Just perfect...

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Tim Kidner This film's Edinburgh set crime thriller, which dips into murky chase torture at times has a sense that 'Lola' (the modern-ish German classic) is going to be parodied. Obviously pitched at being outside of actual reality, where wealthy landlords, pimps or drug dealers (known in the film as 'private bankers') not only extort their penniless customers but also bait and taunt them, as in some cruel, sadistic game. Unfortunately, this is no The Third Man (shadowy sinister characters lurking on dark corners), Lola (the 'chase' seems to be mainly driving about in a Jaguar saloon) whilst The Trainspotting vibes resonate most. Except, there simply aren't the oddly likable, charismatic characters in that, for a start. There's quite a few Hitchcockian twists with a silent, weaving camera teasing us, though. It seems that the whole thing passed me by without making much of an impression. Not sure exactly where it fell down, maybe a bit in each. I daresay I'll have forgotten it by tomorrow. There have been US equivalents that have worked better, maybe for being more villainous, or better written, or better everything. It's not a bad effort, though and worth watching if it's free and not much else is on. Equally, it won't sink the indie Brit film scene but very definitely, unlike Trainspotting, won't set it alight either.

ajs-10 I hadn't heard anything about this British Independent film before I saw it come up on TV last week. There are some very good Indie films out there and on the face of it this one looked pretty good, but more of that later. The setting is the urban environment of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland.A young man, Sean Macdonald, is down on his luck. He has lived in a flat (or apartment if you prefer) with his sister Alice since their mother passed away. Sean finds it hard to hold down a job and Alice has managed to get herself into a large amount of debt. Even Sean's best friend, Sam, cannot help him out. So when two men, Alistair Raskolnikov and Jamie Stewart offer him the chance to win enough money to pay off all of Alice's debts he finds himself with no option but to take them up on the offer. All he has to do is hide from the two of them from 9PM until 9AM the following morning. What follows is a dangerous game of cat and mouse in the back-streets of Edinburgh. I will not tell you who wins, but there are many twists and turns along the way.What we end up with is a gritty and at times violent chase thriller with plenty of excitement and some interesting twists and turns. That's the first half of the movie. Unfortunately the second half does not live up to the promise of the first. There are decent performances from all of the leading cast, so honourable mentions go to Dougray Scott as Alistair Raskolnikov, Alastair Mackenzie as Jamie Stewart, James Anthony Pearson as Sean Macdonald, Liz White as Alice Kelley and Charles Mnene as Sam. Oh and there's also a brief scene with Karen Gillan, now starring along side Matt Smith on TV in Dr Who.As I said the second half of the film is a bit of a let-down. A lot of the energy and tension built up in the first half is lost and I felt the film just petered out rather than building up to a big finish. So, in the end it was a bit disappointing although Dougray Scott is very menacing as the bad guy. I certainly wouldn't want to come across him on a dark night! Over all, a good first half let down buy a very average second… Not recommended.My score: 5.3/10

Tony Bush Richard Jobson - one-time front man with seminal Scottish punk band Skids, musician, songwriter, poet, vocalist, chat show interviewer, film critic - has latterly turned screenwriter and director.As a long-term fan, I feel have to be honest enough to admit that I didn't really engage with his debut feature, "16 Years of Alcohol." Not my thing, despite respecting the work. However, this gritty, dynamic take on "Hounds of Zaroff/The Most Dangerous Game/Hard Target" territory is a bit of a stunner.Clearly shot on a shoestring budget, Jobson offsets the financial limitations with some stylishly nervy camera-work and a cracking script that piles on the tension throughout. Even when location shooting some of the more deprived and desolate areas of Edinburgh, he succeeds in doing so with a sensitive and almost loving rendering. It's the mark of a craftsman.The performances are top notch, shot through with combinations of varying intensities of evil (Scott and Stewart) and pathos (Pearson and White). Everything rings true - apart, perhaps, for Scott on occasion, who has moments where his psychopathic villain comes very close to lurching into an almost grand guignol pantomime performance. Notably, the cliché he offers to explain why he does what he does ("Because I can") is a little familiar from overuse in any number of generic psycho-thrillers from the past. It was hackneyed, the script didn't need it.However, it's a cool and well-paced chase flick with enough shocks, twists and turns to grip the attention. In the last fifteen minutes or so momentum does seem to stutter a bit, but it's a small point.Someone somewhere should invest Jobson with a budget and some resources. He's a rare and diverse talent and the sort of person creative mainstream cinema can never have too many of. Who needs Avatar when you can have this? Or more to the point, who needs Avatar?

lucygoodyear Having grown up in Edinburgh I expected to enjoy this film based on the comments of other reviewers. I also chose it for Dougray Scott who plays a mean if somewhat two dimensional villain in other films with entertaining results. I felt that the story was weak and rather predictable. However, that did not detract from the performance of the young male lead who I thought was excellent and utterly convincing as was his friend. Liz White continued to grow in my estimation with this performance having already seen her in "Life On Mars" and "A Short Stay in Switzerland". These actors far exceeded the capabilities of the script and the storyline and I will continue to watch for them in future releases. To be honest, their performances and the clever use of art and location in the film are the only reasons I have for giving this film a 7. If the score was for storyline alone, it would have garnered a 3.