good cop/heist thriller

British crime thriller where bent cop Sewell stages a bank robbery to snare crime lord Gabriel Byrne.

One line summary: Endless betrayals mark this dark anti-procedural crime film.---------------------- Set in modern day London, UK. The issues are criminal activities versus police responses. Riley moves stolen diamonds. Joseph Corso is a crime boss, the 'Merchant' of London; Cutter is his henchman. Mark Corso (Joseph's son) seems to be running drugs, and doing them as well. Parker, Dixon, and Sands are on the New Scotland Yard/Metropolitan Police side of the issues. By squeezing Mark on cocaine possession, Parker and friends leverage his father Joseph into trapping Riley, who has been skirting Joseph's rules of order. The plans move forward, glacially. Joseph wants his son safe, well-treated, and preferably free; Parker wants Riley in jail and off the streets. At least that is the first story. Joseph sets up Riley to do 'one more job' that is a complicated heist that has to be done lightning fast. Parker gets Mark back to Joseph. Joseph tells Mark that he is retiring as the Merchant, but that succession is unlikely since Mark is a known addict. So, the stage is fully set. Given the complicated arrangements, something is bound to break down. Will the cops keep faith with Joseph on the deal? Will Joseph help Riley just enough to get him caught? Will Mark pull a wild card out? Will Riley diagnose the whole setup and get free of it? Where does the difference start between normal police procedure and straight up corruption?-----Scores----- Cinematography: 8/10 A bit too dark for me, but presumably done for effect. Focus and framing and the like were just fine. Sound: 8/10 The tension building from the background music was good, and the actors seemed to be miked OK. Acting: 6/10 Normally I like Byrne, Sewell, and Sands. They were fairly good here as well, although perhaps the material was not enough of a challenge for them. I like Toby Stephens as a comedian in television (Vexed) and film (Severance), but not so much as a dramatic actor. I kept expecting a flippant remark or seven together with a sneering smile. Terence Maynard was rather good, and I liked Leo Gregory's performance. Screenplay: 5/10 How does Riley get shot in the abdomen then can keep going with high-stress muscular maneuvers for a good continuous 20 minutes afterwards? This seems unlikely. The heist succeeding seemed unlikely. The wrong amount of valuables being in the vault open for inspection seemed ridiculous. Normal police discovery seemed to be almost absent. The ending (and much of the plot) reminded me of LA Confidential. This worked in the year in which LA Confidential was set, but not so much in 2013. Perhaps worst of all, the 84 minute play time felt like 130.

77%"Finally broke your cherry."-Detective (Rufus Sewell)Has everything a good caper is supposed to have, except women.

A very complicated film which was enjoyable but I got lost at times with who's who and who was doing what to who.

Convoluted story and hard to care about any of the characters.

It was quite confusing!

Shows the dog eat dog world of some criminal underworlds, you don't think it can get any worse, and then the hyenas come with enough power in their jaws to crush the dogs' bones resulting in utter carnage

Slick, quick style with a plot that frustrates but eventually comes off well. For me it was crying out for a bit more character development, the writing also possibly a bit sub-standard, lacking more memorable dialouge for those familar with these gritty London crime thrillers.

It's an ok film a cop gone bad but it works out alright in the end

Oh lord, that was a genuinely complex and gripping London-set noir.

It's a stylish and involving experience, with an intriguing touch of Mike Hodges. Isaac is a film-maker with a future.

All Things to All Men is relentless and entertaining in its fast paced narrative: a film that allows no respite from beginning to end.

It's not often you find a crime thriller that doubles as a tourist information video.