For the most part this film is enjoyable, but sadly it's let down by it's indecisiveness. It cannot seem to decide what it wants to be - a brutal gangster flick or a comedy of errors. It ends up being a mixture of the two, but the brutality and the comedy do not make comfortable bed-fellows. A good example would be a scene where a thug is tearing the jugular out of a guy's neck with his teeth in an upstairs bathroom, while downstairs 3 gangsters are mincing around in aprons and marigolds. The film would have benefited massively from the humour being toned down. Also some of the cast seem to treating it like a project, and are hamming it up to ridiculous levels. Ray Winstone is the guiltiest, and loses any menace his gangland boss character may have acquired by giggling hysterically like a schoolgirl at a Twilight premier or laying the cock-er-ney slang on so thick that it comes across like a sketch from a Harry Enfield comedy. Sean Pertwee can also share his guilt. There are however some redeeming qualities to the film, the story moves along briskly, the soundtrack is wonderful and you're never short changed from quality performers like Kathy Burke, Rhys Ifans or Trevor Laird. An average film.

I guess the only reason I wanted to see this film was for the great number of British stars of film and television together in what is meant to be a gangster film. The quite interesting part of this film was all actors in the film, besides Rhys Ifans , used their real first names for the characters, probably making it easier for the many improvisations. That is the second clever thing, many of the scenes, even the unimportant ones, are mostly improvised, you can tell, particularly when they stutter to think of lines. There is an interesting story of rival gangs, and there are cool moments of small comedy and violence, i.e. the blood flowing down the drain, but the flaw is many unnecessary scenes, and you can't understand all of what is going on, I mean, what is the main story. But if you like great British stars, the amount can't fail to attract somehow. Starring Ray Winstone as Ray Kreed, Trainspotting's Jonny Lee Miller as Jonny, Jude Law as Jude, Kathy Burke as Kathy, Sadie Frost as Sadie, Sean Pertwee as Sean, Denise Van Outen as Denise/Maureen, Rhys Ifans as Matthew, director Dominic Anciano as Dominic, co-director Ray Burdis as Ray and Perry Benson as Perry 'Fat Alan'. Adequate!

From personal experience, I can understand the escalation of violence in the underworld of a large city like London. This film is a superb concise representation as such, but even more of a bonus is the humour that goes with it. Yes it can be childish, just like a Roadrunner cartoon or Tom and Jerry, but does that make it a bad thing? I think not. As for acting, considering the backgrounds of a lot of the actors, it's exceptionally well done. Note how almost all the characters have the same first names as their characters, which in turn makes it easier to keep up with. Some genuinely disturbing and violent scenes also add to the bitter-sweet mix, and possibly one of my all time favourite action scenes with a mass shoot out really get the adrenaline going.All in all, if you get the chance to see it, do. It's a great "unheard" of film history, certainly up there with Lock Stock or Snatch.

CONTAINS SPOILERS The thing that has to be remembered is that this film clearly wasn't intended to be serious - We Brits just can't seem to help being cynical in our films.I think what many people have trouble with is the varying change of style - Sometimes its serious (like the ending) and sometimes its a comedy (the dressing up in bridesmaids dresses etc) and this can lead to confusion over how to receive the film.The best aspect is the cast - Ray Winstone (deserves proper stardom), Rhys Ifans (One to watch), Jude Law (you already know him), Jonny Lee Miller (another one to watch), Kathy Burke (seriously underrated actress), Sean Pertwee (vastly improved actor).Overall I liked it for its funny moments. If you decide to buy it yourselves, don't expect a serious Oscar-winning gangster film but rather a cynical view of British crime.