DVD Review: JACK FALLS - Stylish & Surprising Brit-Grit Comic Noir

I have to be honest- the life of a blogger and film reviewer is not always what it's cut out to be. For every golden opportunity to talk about film, and pass on your enthusiasm about certain projects, there are also numerous times when it is difficult to offer anything other than miserable criticism when a film fails to inspire you in any way possible. On the surface of it, it might be easy to see Jack Falls as one such film- filmed cheaply and marketed as a comic noir in the British gangster genre- but to do so would be extremely unfair. The third and final chapter in the 'Jack Trilogy' from writer/director Paul Tanter, Jack Falls completes the story of Jack Adleth (Simon Phillips), a former undercover police officer who returns to London on a mission of revenge against those who sought to kill him. The film- a self-described comic noir thriller, is bursting with British genre talent, and arrives rather stylishly on Blu-ray and DVD this week. The film opens as Jack survives an assassination attempt in Amsterdam, a voice-over confirming that he is "out" before a bullet explodes in his chest and he drops to the floor seemingly dead. But then, this is his film, so that would hardly pan out well. A rejuvenated (though officially dead) Jack returns to London seeking revenge not only for the bullet, but also on account of some older wounds, only to find himself in danger from not only his former criminal associates, but also his old police colleagues. As he battles to stay alive, he must also deal with the ghosts of his undercover life. The stylistic decision to shoot in high contrast black and white, with a Mark Millar style splash of colour in places works well for what is obviously not an expensively made film. In conjunction with the panelled screen shots that pepper the film, the move adds to the Comic Noir feel that co-directors Paul Tanter and Alexander Williams have clearly gone for from conception to execution- I particularly enjoyed the Sin City style character posters that I've seen dotted around the net in the past few weeks. Content wise, easy comparisons can be made with Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, and there is even a touch of a gritty British Bourne about the way the drama unfolds, with obvious references made to one-man-army-with-a-vengeance movies like Taken thrown in for good measure. Given half a chance, and a vastly more inflated budget, the comparisons might well have been between bed fellows, but unfortunately, there just isn't enough finesse to give full credence to them. Still, it is always nice to be able to offer likenesses. Really, the colours should suggest importance- or an otherworldliness - but the flashes seem to have been employed entirely without prejudice or much complex thought. There are times, as with Jack's various hallucinations, when colour does indeed indicate moments of fantasy, and that would have been a clever decision, but sadly the rest of the film is littered indiscriminately with splashes of colour for no reason other than to decorate the scene for the sake of being comic-bookish. The idea should really have been to colourise things that deserved attention- so exciting things like blood and fire (for statement effect), or anything important to the progression of the scene- and not just table-lamps, or shirts which offer no added effect at all other than to distract. The monochrome pallette does serve a narrative purpose as well though- in the preceding two films the black and white sequences were used to show flash-backs, but now that Jack is caught like an island between the twin threats of the corrupt police and his former criminal associates it is appropriate to have a stylistic conceit that blurs the line between reality and fiction. Just as Jack doesn't really know what to expect around every corner, the aesthetic, with its jarring effect does the same for the viewer. And further, because Jack's moral universe is so badly polluted by the murky effect of his various associates and it is nigh-on impossible to decipher who is good or bad, it is a nice reflection to have a visual environment in which tonal extremes blend in to the overall pallette. Black and white are usually conspicuous by their difference, but to have everything monochromatic makes a bold stylistic and metaphorical statement. Lead Simon Phillips, does a lot better than in the only other performance I have seen him in- in the high-concept but terrible The Last Seven- and plays the more human moments quite well. He can certainly convey emotional wounds, but he unfortunately still comes up short occasionally when the film requires presence and authentic menace- and indeed his growling voice-over is just terrible. However, overall he does manfully to carry a character who could quite easily have fell by the wayside under the weight of cliches, or been rendered inconsequential by the bias towards style over substance. And the fact that he is engaging on a human level, makes the final pay-off of the film all the more effective, and it is with surprising happiness that I can suggest that this isn't the last time we will see Jack Adleth. At times, the film plays almost like a parody of the British gangster flick, shone through a hyper-stylised comic book filter, such are the recognisable narrative tropes and character types. You would think that the film would merely become no more than a series of endlessly recycled cliches- and no, there isn't a lot here that feels particularly fresh- but there is just enough comedy and enough visual innovation to ensure that that is just about avoided. The humour is akin to Guy Ritchie's best, and coincidentally, it works best in the hands of Alan Ford, a Ritchie alumni (his high-point is the incredible performance as Brick-Top in Snatch) who plays one of the two main malevolent characters Alan Carter. Even more reflective of that parody feel is the fact that the cast reads like a whose-who of British genre actors- from Alan Ford, Tamer Hassan, and Jason Flemyng, to Dexter Fletcher and Anuvahood's Adam Deacon, and the cast quality does a lot for adding authenticity to proceedings, even if all of the performances don't quite match up to the billing. There are also some "interesting" cameos, including- quite wonderfully- Gremlins star Zach Galligan playing an annoying American tourist and proving beyond any reasonable doubt why he has almost vanished without trace from the film-making industry. Still, it is a nice moment, and it is obviously played for the laughs it gets. Overall, Jack Falls is surprisingly good fun- despite not offering much new, it is compelling enough to hold the attention, even when the stylistic gimmick starts to wear a little thin, and it deserves to be considered one of the more innovative British genre films of the past few years. Considering the surplus of shit that has flooded the market since every British man with a camera thought pointing it at things constituted film-making (a problem caused entirely in the wake of Guy Ritchie's appearance), this is not something to be sniffed at, even if there was a lot more potential here than was finally realised. As a final side note, there is something very Jurassic Park-like about the near-ending scene in which Jack ends up in the same room as both of his chief tormentors, and there is the same sort of pleasure in seeing them square off as there is when the T-Rex erupts into the visitor's centre and takes on the raptors, unintentionally allowing the human captors to evade certain death. Odd comparison I know, but that's what popped into my head immediately.Sadly, I was only sent a screener, so no insight into the Extras or high definition quality for this one.

Jack Falls is available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD now and Jack: The Trilogy is also available on DVD.