|
Diary of a Bad Lad (2010)
|
|
Movie Review by The Spastic Cannibal
|
10.18.10
|
While "Diary of a Bad Lad" isn't what I'd call a terrible film, it really isn't anything you'll remember soon after viewing. It's pretty much a phony documentary focusing on Britain's criminal underbelly... It starts with a film-maker searching for a prominent racketeer with a known "flair" for sadistic violence. During his impetuous journey, he rubs elbows with coke dealers, extortionists, hitmen, junkies, whores etc., and becomes hopelessly immersed in the drug and porn distribution "game" to the point where there is NO turning back...
This is a cool idea and the movie has an incredibly authentic look and feel that is indeed a major strength when it comes to these pseudo-documentaries. It seems pretty implausible throughout, but the ending puts a nice 'spin' on it that works okay. Problem was, it was far too drawn out in too many scenes and a lot of the story was very sloppily paced. Scene after scene rolled by and seemed to go nowhere. The husband and wife forced to make an S&M video in order to get out of debt resulted in one of the most tedious 10+ minutes I can recall witnessing in a film, as of late. There's really nothing memorable that occurs in this movie at all. The rape(ish)/murder scene at the end was totally obscured and mostly off-screen.
Like I said, the documentary style and performances are very strong, yet what "Diary of a Bad Lad" needed was more of that gripping "edge" and a more decipherable plotline to carry it along more smoothly. Can't recommend it. Check out "Man Bites Dog" or something, instead...
|
Rating: 3.0 out of 10.0 - 1 vote cast total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
