Monday, 2 December 2013

"Who Needs Enemies" (The Guardian 29/11/13)


Who Needs Enemies (18) 91 mins *

Another week, another set of mouthy geezers in suits mugging one another off. Peter Stylianou’s microbudget thriller strives to rejuvenate the tired honour-among-thieves narrative with some grim business about child sex abuse, the detail of which is obscured from us less out of discretion than indifferent storytelling. Events are wrapped in a certain low-level flash – wardrobe from Burton’s, ominous chapter headings, narcissistic slo-mo – but it’s fundamentally alienating: you have to cheer yourself up by reasoning the grizzled faces drafted in to cameo as pederasts are those of retired newsagents and market traders, sweet-talked into making a less-than-wise investment of time and/or money.

Who Needs Enemies is now playing in selected cinemas.

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