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Remember the time last year when I drove up to Gloucester to be an extra in the new Nick Love movie with Sean Bean, Danny Dyer and Lennie James? No? Well here’s a quick reminder

Today me & Becky were invited to a screening of “Outlaw – The Movie”, showing at the Empire Theatre in Leicester Square, London. No red carpet, no celebs, no big premiere, no Nick Love, unfortunately, for ‘The Captain’ was in Dublin for the premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival.

However, we sat down in a great spot to see a film that the director himself said “divides people and their opinions”.

After some bold & simple but great titles, to the backing of Puppy Love, I half expected to be upset by a controversial opening scene. I must admit that I wasn’t entirely convinced by the opening shots, with Danny Dyer & bride’s quiet stroll past the camera. But then the film started getting a little surreal for a moment before the cinema screen went black for a couple of minutes. They said the film had been cut, with the deleted scenes to be available on the DVD but we didn’t expect THAT big a cut [update: apparently it was a car chase we missed]

Straight back into the action we were assaulted with a customary scene of fists flying before getting into a very honest and contemporary film. The cinematography is raw and nervy at times, reminiscent of Spielberg’s recapturing of old 9mm film, the palette is muted and the soundtrack creates a constant tension underpinning the whole experience.

As for the cast Sean Bean, Lennie James & Bob Hoskins were consummate professionals as always. Danny Dyer was not so paranoid as he was cast in The Football Factory nor as much a joker as his role in Severance. And Sean Harris is not the sort of old schoolfriend you’d like to reacquaint yourself with.

But more than anything I personally think this film is a coming of age trip for Nick Love’s directorial talents. I never actually liked The Football Factory first time round but then grew to love it; I suppose that’s my reaction to mindless violence but Football Factory is a clever and funny despite the beatings.(unlike that embarrassingly wrong football film Green Street)

Outlaw does touch upon a nerve, with its addressing of the social ills that go unpunished today and the sheer uselessness of the police and the justice system. You might think beating somebody up for messing with your motor is not right but then if Nick had made a film based on Conservative leader David Cameron’s “Hug a Hoodie” nonsense it would have been a right wet blanket.

Did I enjoy it? Yes. Would I recommend it? Yes. See it again? Certainly. I’ll take some friends on release date. Would I help bankroll another Nick Love production? Definitely, I’m sure the next one will be even bigger and better. Would I be an extra again? I’d love it.

And the DVD will be great just to see the scenes that hit the cutting room floor; maybe we’ll see more than just my elbow on it

Anyway, scribble on your calenders because Outlaw is out in cinemas on March 9th.

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