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Straightheads [2007]


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Editorial
Synopsis

When wideboy Adam accepts a party invitation from the incredibly attractive Alice, all of his Christmases and birthdays have come at once. When Adam and Alice leave the party for some mind-blowing sex in the nearby woodlands, the evening couldn’t appear to get any better. But the post coital ecstasy is short-lived when they become involved in a minor collision. For the occupants of the 4x4 they’ve just crashed into aren’t the forgiving type, and Adam and Alice will endure a violent, life-changing ordeal before the night it out…

Editorial
Synopsis

When Adam (Danny Dyer, Severance, Outlaw) is invited by Alice (Gillian Anderson, The X-Files), a woman he has just met, to accompany her to a lavish party in the country he knows he is going to have the best night of his life. Following mind-blowing sex, the pair speed away from the party down a wooded and desolate road in Alice's car.

In a moment of distraction a fateful collision occurs leading to a vicious and brutal attack that results in a consequent vendetta where Adam and Alice must fight violence with violence.

A dark and disturbing sexual thriller, Straightheads is a brutal and uncompromising tale of lust, violence and self-preservation.


Gratuitous to a fault
Review date: 2008-08-31 Rating: 2 out of 10

J.A.Harrison has it absolutely spot on.

From the seedy soft-porn type intro of Gillian Anderson's character picking up her security camara installer to the pathetic atempt to give some sympathy to the main rapist, the film potrays such a sick and insipid plot, that you can only conclude that Anderson was only invited to partake, as her getting her kit off would boost DVD sales, and that the rest is just gratuitous violence.

The characters are cold and shallow, and whilst the awful things that happen to them make you sick, you have no sympathy for them, as the characters are unreal.

The fact that that the film was being promoted already upon release as a "cult film" ( they wish!) demonstrates how contrived it is.

It is trash of the highest order.

If anyone wants to see how such a difficult topic is better covered, then watch Deliverance, or even Straw Dogs.



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Reviews


I am a little confused
Review date: 2008-08-02 Rating: 6 out of 10

Well, I waited a while before watching this. Mainly because I have to be in the right frame of mind to watch a revenge film of this type.

I am not quite sure what I was expecting - and I think that comes down to the fact that the director didn't quite know what they were directing. I get the feeling that the film was trying to do two jobs at once - show (albeit subtly, it has to be said) a visceral attack and the motive for vengence. Or show the imbroglio of emotions two people might feel when they decide to embark on revenge. Unfortunately, it doesn't really do either job particularly well. Which is a shame, as you do get the impression they were trying.

So - the viscerality. I am not one to suggest that films should be more violent/disturbing but I am afraid the depiction of all the attacks in this film simply don't have the desired impact. For some reason, you don't really feel for any of the characters involved. In the case of Danny Dyer and Gillian Anderson - see below. In the case of the attackers, it is largely because they come across as terrible stereotypes - particularly Ralph Brown.

So - character turmoil. I haven't seen Danny Dyer in much. That's because my "love" of cockney barra' boy types ended as the credits to Lock Stock mercifully rolled up the screen. Here, he is playing a much more muted version of his previous roles. Which is a relief. However, he sadly never gets much beyond muted. Now this could be because his character is a bit shy and out of his depth in the situation he finds himself. Or because he is almost permanently stoned. Either way, we don't ever find out that much about him. Other than the fact that Dyer seems to find serious acting a bit of a struggle. For many, this will make it difficult to care about his character. Ditto for Anderson, too. She turns in a pretty decent performance, but does so hampered by a pretty lumpen script. Sadly, I think the director must have gone down the European route here - lots of staring and very stilted dialogue to represent two characters who barely know each other and are a bit awkward in each other's presence. It really doesn't work that well, though. Disappointing because better characterisation would have rounded this film out nicely.

Now the message. Dyer and Anderson make for pretty terrible revenge-motivated psychos. Unlike many films, Straightheads pauses to consider the difficulty normal people might face in taking the law into their own hands. Possibly the reason for the title. It is for this reason I decided to give 3, instead of 2, stars. Had the characters been given a bit more depth, this part of the film would have given the whole thing considerably more merit. And given the film's short running time, a bit of extra padding would not have gone amiss.

What we end up with instead is a fairly thin exploration of conscience. Clearly the two leads feel wronged enough to want to dole out some "eye-for-an-eye" but they are too clouded by the kind of conscience their attackers don't possess. Thus, they do not rampage. They consider their response carefully and, when it comes down to it, do not seem to relish it - entirely. Which makes for interesting (if not entirely satisfactory)viewing.

So I am confused. I was expecting a tacky revenge film done badly. I am relieved it wasn't that. I am glad that someone was trying to take this format down a different route. I am a bit annoyed that it wasn't done that little bit better.

Straightheads
Review date: 2008-07-17 Rating: 2 out of 10

I bought this film mainly because of the story it presented and because I think Gillian Anderson is a great actress. In my opinion it was lacking in a lot of areas, no atmosphere, twists to the tale that made no sense and the acting seemed lifeless at times. Danny Dyer's character Adam was a bit ridiculous at times, after his traumatic event he becomes depressed and a broken man only to then suddenly become a revengeful psychopath. This we are to believe was first triggered by breaking into his tormentors house to install cameras and later ending up in the same room as his tormentors daughter in which he frightens her before he flees. Would you believe this type of encounter to be an altering turning point in his personality becoming unstable ? This film read like it was going to be different and dark in its mood but I was glad when it ended, very disappointing. If you feel you have to see it for yourself to make up your own mind thats fair but I reckon most that buy it will be very disappointed, see what you think of it.

Ultimately leaves you cold
Review date: 2008-05-25 Rating: 4 out of 10

Watching `Straightheads' I was reminded of another recent revenge movie, `The Brave One'. Both show an initially solid premise and each have some success depicting individuals attempting to deal with the emotional fall-out of brutal aggression, who eventually find themselves unable to reconcile their everyday lives with such horrific acts of violence. But neither film ultimately manages to be either believable or satisfying. Although at least with `The Brave One' there is some social commentary on violence in society, even if the message is in the end a ridiculous and cynical one, but the story in `Straightheads' is nowhere near as coherent, or as worthy of being told and I'd agree with other reviewers who have concluded that the only possible point to the film can be the depiction of violence itself...

I was a bit hesitant about the level of violence in the film before I began, and while I wouldn't say it's by any means mundane, I don't believe it's either too graphic or gratuitous to be off-putting. Largely it's a case of punches and kicks being thrown, screaming, blood-splattering windows etc. Until that is you reach the final scene, which concludes the film with a rape scene of unnecessary duration that will undoubtedly leave most viewers feeling cold and sullied.

Unlike the majority of other reviewers however, I thought Danny Dyer as Adam gave a fantastic performance, showing a level of vulnerability and flexibility as an actor I wouldn't have thought him capable of possessing having watched his contribution to the cast comments on the special features. In comparison, Gillian Anderson- who I've always found to be a talented and engaging actress- had me wondering almost from the out-set how it was she ever came to be cast in this film in the first place. Although she may succeed in portraying the initial confidence and coyness of her character Alice, thereafter she shows far too little emotional reaction to the violence to be either convincing or sympathetic. The story requires her character to be manipulative in her subsequent handling of Adam, but whether as a result of an under-developed script, or her one-dimensional performance, I just didn't find her convincing as the dominant, seductive partner in a relationship that became warped and unhealthy as a result of shared pain.

'Straightheads' is an example of that very rare animal- 'the British film' and allows Dyer to flex his acting muscles, but otherwise it's pointless and soulless.

Statistically it's a dud
Review date: 2008-05-17 Rating: 4 out of 10

As I type this, 93.75% of those who have reviewed this film have given it 3 stars or less. Only one has given it more - 5 stars. Each to their own, but it seems there is a loose consensus of opinion that suggests this film ain't that good. And I agree. Posh Gillian Anderson meets rough diamond Danny Dyer and they go off to a party in the woods, have a good time, then Mr Dyer blows it all and gets a savage beating and she gets raped. All this happens in a remote wood, a place favoured by directors into making cheap, lazy films about revenge/justice. As per usual with this type of movie, the cops are useless - so useless that we don't even get to see them. Fast forward to after the physical wounds have healed and we get into the revenge element, a process made complicated by a stupid surveillance strategy by GA which DD (who knows a thing or two about surveillance) follows and ultimately screws up, necessitating some unplanned action (was it even in the script?). Not quite a nasty little movie but I did wonder why Gillian Anderson was in it. And it's about time Danny Dyer broke away from his usual roles before he becomes typecast and ends up in Eastenders.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Danny Dyer
Gillian Anderson

Creators:
Gillian Anderson (Primary Contributor)
Danny Dyer (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Verve Pictures
Manufacturer: Verve Pictures
EAN: 5055159277396
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2007-09-24
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 76 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

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