Mike is underwhelmed by THE FIRM

Another remake (I continue, unapologetically, to hate them) is coming our way this week, now in the form of eighties TV play The Firm.

A far cry from the eighties Syndey Pollack/Tom Cruise thriller, this 'The Firm' is set in East London and follows the fortunes of young lad Dom. After an encounter with Bex, the enigmatic leader of the ICC (a reference to the West Ham Inter City Firm, or group of yobs) he is drawn into the heady, destructive joys of football hooliganism. It's the kind of morality/coming of age tale we've seen a million times before. Dom is seduced by a world of violence that he feels empowers him, and allows him to escape the banality of his family life. Soon, however, he learns that the seedy underworld of the East End is not all it's cracked up to be, and finds himself in deep trouble. Meanwhile ringleader Bex is a family man, whose actions soon have severe ramifications for those innocent loved ones who have been consistently turning a blind eye to his thuggish leanings. As a remake, it brings little to the original. Gary Oldman played the part of Bex in the original, making it a hard act for relative rookie Paul Anderson to follow - and he doesn't impress. The traditional hard man part is played with humdrum predictability that neither captures the protective family side or the raw blood lust that form the two extremes of this volatile character. What's more, the violence has not been updated for audiences more accustomed to blood and guts on the big screen. This is a bigger deal than you might think, firstly because it dampens the moralistic side of the tale. When the world these people inhabit doesn't look as dark and dangerous as is implied, then the tragic arc that they follow doesn't seem quite so tragic. It feels watered down, weakened, and it left me feeling cold. Secondly, having already weakened the moral core of the story, it prevents the film ever rising to the kind of awesome spectacle that we come to expect of violent dramas. It's not only big dramas that do things better than this recycled affair, there's many more films that capture the gritty core of life in London much better. The expanding genre of British council estate films is continuing to show promise, with FISH TANK (which I reviewed recently) providing a great example of how the nasty side of such a life can deeply affect those who are faced with it every day. It seems the only thing going for this film is the soundtrack. Packed with classics from Tainted Love to Town called malice, it's got more hits than any of the brawls it accompanies. Sadly, the music is used so flagrantly to establish the era, as well as to emotionally charge an otherwise bland atmosphere, that it was difficult to enjoy. A watchable, but disappointing movie that brings nothing new to the serious topic it addresses.