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Amazon.co.uk Review
Billy Connolly has made the transition from comedy to straight dramatic roles with a great deal more success than most. In The Debt Collector he plays Nicky Dryden, a violent debt collector who has served 18 grim years in prison, only to have found rehabilitation on the outside as a successful sculptor and respectability in marriage to Francesca Annis. However, Keltie (Ken Stott) the policeman who originally arrested him is disgusted at this ex-con's social elevation and undertakes an obsessive campaign of stalking and harassment, refusing to allow him to bury his past. It is Keltie, in a sense, who is the true debt collector of the title--he doesn't believe Dryden either has or ever can repay society. Furthermore, Dryden is idolised by a young thug (Iain Robertson) who bases his psychotic lifestyle on Dryden's past exploits. Stott and Connolly make excellent, craggy adversaries, with the frustrated, embittered ex-cop cutting a menacing, though at times pathetic character, while Connolly's Dryden knows that his past, violent side is capable of erupting at any time. This gloomily compelling drama has moments of sickeningly concussive impact as it winds its way down to its tragic conclusion. Annette Crosbie as Keltie's vulnerable yet curiously strong Mother, turns in a fine supporting performance. --David Stubbs
From the Back Cover
Ex-con Nickie Dryden has done his time. 18 years in one of the toughest prisons in Britain. Now he's married and has made a new life for himself as an acclaimed sculptor. His old ways are deeply buried, but one man cannot forget.
Eighteen years on, Keltie, the policeman responsible for his conviction, cannot accept Dryden's rehabilitation and embarks on a campaign to ensure his violent crimes are not forgotten or forgiven.
Billy Connolly is terrifyingly convincing as the seemingly rehabilitated Dryden and Ken Scott is superb as the obsessive policeman determined to see justice done at any price.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Flatters to deceive,
By Humpty Dumpty (Wall St, Upton Snodsbury) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Debt Collector [1999] [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This begins with quite a striking confrontation, the first of several in the film between the Debt Collector (Billy Connolly) and his alter ego (Ken Stott) that in miniature epitomises the film. From a promising start to the scene, it descends into implausibility when the apologetic Stott turns all triumphant upon revealing himself to be a policeman. And this is the pattern for a film which, after a first half of gritty realism set among the brooding houses of both middle- and working-class Edinburgh, turns into an exercise of bloodlust and horror in the second half. Reality is jettisoned in the name of shock and sensation (with Ken Stott going over the top), and not especially original shock and sensation at that.
This is a pity, especially in view of the good acting from Connolly and Francesca Annis as his wife, as I felt there was a good film in there somewhere trying to get out. But the director was apparently dissatisfied with the possibilities of exploring the life and mind of a serious criminal (based presumably on Jimmy Boyle) who harnesses his energy and creativity in pursuit of art rather than doing harm, and preferred to slip into the realms of slash-and-burn.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Les Miserables, Edinburgh style,
By
This review is from: The Debt Collector [DVD] [1999] (DVD)
The Debt Collector is another British crime film that doesn't add up to much. A Scottish variation on Les Miserables, it sees Ken Stott's typically bitterly furious cop stalking reformed debt collector turned artist Billy Connolly on the mean streets and leafy suburbs of Edinburgh, here shot in such oppressive and dark tones that it looks more like a Victorian prison than a holiday destination. Iain Robertson offers strong support as a hero-worshipping little gobs**te, but by the time the inevitable confrontation takes place without any great revelation you find yourself wondering if this journey was really necessary.
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gritty and thrilling, a joy to own,
This review is from: The Debt Collector [DVD] [1999] (DVD)
As a Billy Connolly fan I bought this simply to complete a collection. Upon watching it I was astonished at the quality of the story and all the actors and actresses in it.Connolly is very convincing and Scott terrifyingly calculating and the film is made a joy to watch, it is a true shame when it ends. Fans of thrillers will love this. Buy it! you won't be dissappointed.
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