Story momentum sods off in 44 Inch Chest (1)
Screenwriters Louis Mellis and David Scinto reunite, but it's not a happy ending
In the London crime drama 44 Inch Chest, a group of cockney gangsters viciously beat and abuse a civilian victim, but that brutal treatment is nothing compared to their violence against the English language. Like baying hounds, the mobsters snap profanities at each other, and the film doubtless sets a record in using the word that rhymes with “shunt.” Rage seems to course through English mob films compared to their U.S. counterparts, maybe because on this side of the Atlantic, gangland dramas provide metaphors for the promise of the American dream, however illusory. England’s screen gangsters may gain riches through their larcenous means, but they’re still stuck in a once-great former empire.
44 Inch Chest reunites Sexy Beast screenwriters Louis Mellis and David Scinto with the 2000 film’s co-stars, Ray Winstone and Ian McShane. Sexy Beast featured a volcanic performance by Ben Kingsley as the world’s angriest criminal, plus a memorably bizarre underwater heist at the finale. In comparison, 44 Inch Chest lacks a narrative motor and a destination, and its two-fisted critique of masculine behavior eventually sputters to a halt.
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(Photo courtesy Image Entertainment)