London [DVD]

I found London to be a fantastic film - gritty, intense, dramatic, and raw. It sort of grabs you by the throat and throttles you every so often, never selling itself out for a single minute. The story doesn't give you what you have come to expect, especially in terms of the ending, and I think that's a very encouraging sign for the future of Hollywood in this new century. London has an inner fire that's almost palpable. It's not a film everyone will enjoy, however. Some viewers (especially older ones, I expect) just won't connect with it, and some will be turned away from the language and drug use it depicts. Other will surely find it mesmerizing, so I say don't be afraid to take a chance with this film.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how I would react to this film. Aside from the almost constant drug use among the characters, it's not exactly easy to get all that excited over a story that takes place, for the most part, inside a bathroom. No plot summary can really describe this film, though, as its heart and soul boils down to emotions and characters. London is all about love and the train wreck of a life it can leave in its wake. Some may not think the film makes a great deal of sense, but when has love ever been about making sense or behaving rationally or living happily ever after? This movie is real to the core.

The centerpiece of the story is Syd (Chris Evans), an emotional mess of a fellow who has a seemingly terminal case of love for his ex-girlfriend London (Jessica Biel). He's just not capable of dealing with his loss, as therapy, cocaine, and booze just aren't doing the trick. When he finds out that London is leaving the country to move in with some guy in L.A. and that he wasn't even invited to her going-away party, he really starts coming unglued. Seeing this as his last chance to talk to London and try to get her back, he decides to show up at the party, anyway. Along the way, he manages to drag Bateman (Jason Statham), his friendly neighborhood coke supplier, along with him. They quickly make their way upstairs to the bathroom, and that is where Syd stays until such time as he can work up the gumption to go down and talk to London. This bathroom, I should mention, is not your conventional bathroom - it's bigger than my first apartment, has plenty of windows with a great view of the city, and seems to be the perfect place for snorting cocaine and seriously hitting the bottle.

As Syd talks (and rants) to Bateman and a couple of female pals over the course of an hour or so, the nature of his relationship with London is revealed, along with some revelations on Bateman's part, as well. The conversation between both of these men is oftentimes rather disgusting, but every part of it demands and deserves your attention. I'm pretty sure Syd had to have been the worst boyfriend ever. He certainly got little sympathy from me, as he's an incredibly needy, jealous, egotistical nuisance who constantly starts arguments over the least little thing - and he can't even bring himself to tell London he loves her. Even putting his obvious drug problem aside, this guy was born with emotional problems. Therefore, I see the film as something of an anti-romance; I certainly wasn't pulling for Syd to win London's heart in the end. Bateman is actually the most compelling character in the film, largely due to a tremendous performance by Jason Statham.

London fully deserves its R rating for gratuitous drug use and strong language. Several of the characters snort cocaine like it's going out of style, but I don't really buy into the notion that the film warns against the allure of such recreational drug use. Obviously, no one wants to be like Syd, but the film certainly doesn't go out of its way to present any negative consequences of drug abuse - I found it pretty ambivalent in this regard, actually.

Basically, what we have here is an uncomfortably honest, edgy, intense film about love and loss and dealing with the emotional trauma these things oftentimes induce. It doesn't march to the drum of conventional Hollywood scripts, it holds nothing back in terms of content, and it eschews anything resembling a storybook ending. To me, it's a truly impressive, relatively undiscovered gem of a motion picture.

Hell. Weird film!! First of all, absolutely every character in this film is the sort of person you'd back away quickly from if you found yourself stuck next to in a party! Absolutely everyone is vile. Even the nicest character played by Jessica Biel is someone you'd never tire of slapping. Jason Statham's character is so awful you actually cheer when you find out about his problem (no give away) as it's less than he deserves. The hideous character played by Chris Evans disappoints because he manages to consume a fatal amount of drugs without having the good grace to actually die! Slowly. In fact I found myself wishing someone would come into the hideous party with a machine gun and do the world a huge favour. So why the 4 stars? Quite simply the acting. I didn't know Jason Statham could act!! Was he really on drugs? Chris Evans is superb, as in fact he always is. Much as I'd like to have killed his character with a blunt letter opener, his last lines, delivered perfectly, did give me a lump in the throat and his scene in the car with Jessica Biel was outstanding. I don't think I could watch it again too quickly but the raw acting talent makes a silk purse out of a pig's ear.

A simple tale of two men (Chris Evans and Jason Statham) who meet one night and take large quantity's of drugs in an up market apartment's bathroom, during the leaving party of Evan's girlfriend (Jessica Biel).

Some reviews hint that this might be a groundbreaking piece of cinema that is must see, and that is always realistic and believable, sadly it's not quite that good and occasionally lacks conviction (the bathroom is the size of a small house - and how come only the primary characters' use it during a busy party?)

This film is how ever a well directed and stylish movie that contains good performances from the leads and some well scripted debates about everything (life, sex, God) that we as mortals ponder in our everyday lives, using flashbacks as a driving force to the plot.

The language and drug use is frequent and very strong so this is not for the easily offended, but the character's are believable and the film is never gratuitous.

If you wish to see a movie that depicts the pitfalls of drug taking, then the depressing but good Requiem for a dream or the much lighter toned Train spotting, present a much more tangible feel for that lifestyle. Equally if you want a movie in which two characters spend a large part of there time discussing life, love and the universe then check out before sunset.

London is a solid,if downbeat movie that is never quite as deep as it could have been, but still has many memorable scenes, and much for the veiwer chew over after the credits have rolled.