MovieChat Forums > Shank (2009) Discussion > Am I the only one who thought this wasn'...

Am I the only one who thought this wasn't that good?

posted 14 years ago by mattkeyte
10 replies | jump to latest

I have just wasted 1 hour and 27 minutes of my life watching this 'film' and as a gay man I found most of it totally stereotypical. Everything from the casting (olivier - not oliver! give me a break), the 'gangs', the graphic violence, the soundtrack and the camera work/editing completely gcse and unbelievable. I felt like I was in the 1990's. The idea and storyline of the film is good and could have been possibly produced in a more cohesive way. For example, by actually using actors that had chemistry? The rape seen was totally ridiculous and unrealistic. I'm sorry to moan about this film as I'm British and gay and should be fully supportive of gay British cinema but with this? Honestly? With this? Get back to college

[–] preppy-3 14 years ago

Come on. It wasn't THAT bad! It was far from perfect but I've seen worse gay films. As an American gay man I thought it was, for a low-budget film with all actors in their first roles, pretty good. I personally thought the rape scene was downright horrifying and (even though I'm sure it was staged) way TOO realistic. Give it a break! This might lead to better British gay films.

[–] MsNJS 14 years ago

I agree with preppy. I thought it was decent. I have seen much worse

[–] ommik 14 years ago

I totally agree with mattkeyte!

This movie was such a disappoinment! Yes, it was kinda brutal
and "rough"... but it wasn't in any way touching or interesting.
Also, most of the cast was really unattractive (especially Cal
and Olivier) and lacked chemistry.

Sometimes this actually reminded me of somekind of combination
of a Vicky Pollard and Daffyd sketch from Little Britain!
But I think I consider this a plus.

[–] supersmart4life 14 years ago

It was decent. I enjoyed seeing a gay themed movie that wasn't totally stereotypical. The only weak link for me was Oliver, he was a really bad actor.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sergius1970 13 years ago

no you're not, it was patronising cack, exactly how middle-class luvvies like to see "ordinary people". Why not make a porno movie and have done with it?

[–] john-freeman-21-330113 13 years ago

"olivier not oliver". No, I won't give you a break. Did you fail to notice that Olivier was a foreign student from a French speaking country?

[–] Nightflyre9 13 years ago

I agree with the OP. If you're going to make a film that contains so many brutal, ugly things there needs to be a strong emotional core to anchor it--yet there was absolutely no believability in the relationship between Cal and Olivier. This alone rendered most everything else pointless. And of course the rape was absurdly out of place; it's almost as if the writers said, gee, we need a rape somewhere in this movie, so let's put one . . . um . . . HERE. It made no sense. Add to this a whole lot of stiff, amateurish acting and two-dimensional characters that you don't empathize with, and it's just a recipe for disaster. Sure I've seen much, much worse but this movie doesn't get a free pass based solely on that. My rating: 5/10. And I think that's generous.

[–] priestly-nichols 9 years ago

(olivier - not oliver! give me a break)

Olivier is a French name... and the guy was French? Why is it ridiculous that a French guy is named Olivier (which is basically just the French version of the name Oliver)? Why should a French guy be named Oliver instead of Olivier?

[–] ElMacho 7 years ago

I couldn't agree more, i just watched this for the first time last night and came on here expecting far harsher reviews - I've seen superior acting in full on porn films. There was ZERO chemistry between Cal and Olivier, the guy that played Olivier is one of the worst actors I have ever seen - there were times when he actually paused during what was supposed to be a heartfelt monologue to seemingly remember his next line.

The sex scenes were awkward and anything but hot, even the kissing was cold and mechanical. Every time that gang leader opened her mouth I was laughing at how bad her line reads were, she had the easiest job in the film and she couldn't even play a one-dimensional menace.

Queer cinema for the most part leaves a lot to be desired, as a gay Aussie bloke I rarely am impressed but there are exceptions and by now the do's and dont's for a successful queer film have long been established but so many makers keep going for the easy route and ignoring them.

Anyone that actually likes this rot, seek out great Brit queer films such as Beautiful Thing, Like It Is and The Fruit Machine to name just a few - then come back and watch this rubbish and see how much you like it.

Desperanto spoken here...