Muscle Movie Review & Comments

Casimir Harlow

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I've purposely avoided everything Fairbrass has ever done. Might be time to finally break with that policy!
 
Thanks Cas going to watch this tonight looks good.
 
Fairbrass has always been a meat n' potatoes angst actor, that I've never thought about. Cavan Clerkin, likewise, tends to get small roles of men bent out of shape for nothing in particular. The only thing I particularly enjoyed of the latter, was his one-off in Count Arthur Strong, of all things.
However, your review, Cas, sounds interesting and fitting for both.
I tend to find many films that use B&W of late, that aren't a period piece; as either pretentious, taking an easy artsy route or, lacking the vision or imagination to craft depth of feeling with colour. It'll be interesting to see it here but as you suggest this is something of a tight and claustrophobically dark world, it may well suit in an indie that's not got anything like grandiosity in its sights.
 
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I've not forgiven him and his brothers since this but will try the film.


I can't tell whether him denying any connection with them on a BBC interview actually only sparked a 'lady doth protest too much' vibe.
 
Thanks for the Review Cas. Looks really good, but something I'd need to choose when I watched it.
 
I can't tell whether him denying any connection with them on a BBC interview actually only sparked a 'lady doth protest too much' vibe.
Ah, my cheese-o-meter got the better of me and I edited my post!
He should've ridden that one to the bank of publicity. I would've.
 
Thanks for the Review Cas. Looks really good, but something I'd need to choose when I watched it.

Yes, you'll need a palate cleanser afterwards. Double bill with Cliffhanger should do lol.
 
Fairbrass has always been a meat n' potatoes angst actor, that I've never thought about. Cavan Clerkin, likewise, tends to get small roles of men bent out of shape for nothing in particular. The only thing I particularly enjoyed of the latter, was his one-off in Count Arthur Strong, of all things.
However, your review, Cas, sounds interesting and fitting for both.
I tend to find many films that use B&W of late, that aren't period a piece; as either pretentious, taking an easy artsy route or, lacking the vision or imagination to craft depth of feeling with colour. It'll be interesting to see it here but as you suggest this is something of a tight and claustrophobically dark world, it may well suit in an indie that's not got anything like grandiosity in its sights.

Yup, I'd love your take. Initially (particularly in watching the trailer) it reeked of being a pretentious choice, but it soon proves its worth and come the end, you'll realise some of it could have never been shot in colour.
 
Thanks for the review, Cas.

I really like Hyena, another film by the director. So will check this out.
 
Thanks for the review, Cas. Had this one on my watch list already due to the indie accolades it'd been receiving. I certainly don't mind a film in black and white if the mood is right for it. Incidentally, have you watched The Captain on Amazon? It's in German, it's four (FOUR!) hours long, and in black and white. Also the best film I've seen so far this year. Check it out if you haven't already.
 
I've purposely avoided everything Fairbrass has ever done. Might be time to finally break with that policy!


Come on...surely you used to watch London's Burning? :D
 
I love gritty films like this. I'm off to buy for sure!
 
wasn't he the guy in cod who used to say 'team deathmatch, let's do this' ?
 
Thanks for the review, Cas. Had this one on my watch list already due to the indie accolades it'd been receiving. I certainly don't mind a film in black and white if the mood is right for it. Incidentally, have you watched The Captain on Amazon? It's in German, it's four (FOUR!) hours long, and in black and white. Also the best film I've seen so far this year. Check it out if you haven't already.
The German movie The Captain originally screened at the Toronto film festival in 2017 in black & white at a runtime of 118 minutes.

It's not actually 4 hours for the whole movie. Once the movie ends on Amazon Prime it replays again this time in colour.

So only about 2 hours runtime for both the original black and white version and for the colour version. Both are exactly the same movie.
 
The German movie The Captain originally screened at the Toronto film festival in 2017 in black & white at a runtime of 118 minutes.

It's not actually 4 hours for the whole movie. Once the movie ends on Amazon Prime it replays again this time in colour.

So only about 2 hours runtime for both the original black and white version and for the colour version. Both are exactly the same movie.
I noted the running time when I started it and watched it to the end titles across two evenings. Had no idea. I thought I’d watched four hours! Lol.
 
cant believe there was no mention of Londons Burning for Fairbrass... surely his best role. :D
 
Watched this last night and enjoyed it. Though it being in B&W added to the gritty nature of the movie. If you are feeling down about yourself at the moment maybe best give it a skip but thought it was a good movie and worth taking the time to watch.
 
Thanks @Casimir Harlow
Is it available on Streaming ?

At the moment, it's a premium release, whether that be digital or on disc, as opposed to a Netflix/Amazon/Sky exclusive.

So yes, you can stream it but not for free; it's a digital rental for less than a fiver or a purchase for a tenner, which is just shy of the BD price (£12).
 

@encaser a truly and typically eloquent take on the movie, which I was halfway through replying to when it disappeared!

Totally agree, glad you liked the B&W (it won me over) and if I think about it, that police / interrogation sequence left me scratching my head too, good point.

And yes, it was very interesting to see the hierarchy re: Fairbrass' ostensible 'leader', particularly when he was talking to his supposed moll (and real brains behind the organisation) and the tone she took when she was "going to finish watching TV" before she allowed him near her.
 
I watched this earlier. I enjoyed it very much, but I feel the director has a problem with endings.

He had a similar issue with Hyena.

Just my opinion.
 
I watched this earlier. I enjoyed it very much, but I feel the director has a problem with endings.

He had a similar issue with Hyena.

Just my opinion.

I can see that. It was certainly shooting for something, particularly with those final shot(s), but I'm not quite sure it achieved what it was intending. But the score by The The carries a lot of it, along with the visuals, so maybe it wasn't a movie about endings.

And besides, I did think the
scamming the scammer
overview was subtly handled and resonated the most with me.
 
Just watched this agree with the review and score for a change.

But the ending was a let down for me or did i miss something?

if someone asked you to take a van across the border you would look to see what you were delivering (considering he was a dodgy character), also walking out of a police station during giving a statement no way
 

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