The ad campaign is keen to suggest that Paul Tanter’s movie is a gritty British
drama about football hooliganism. It’s not. There are times when it touches on
sporting themes, gangs and violence, but anyone expecting the next ID is in for
a shock. White Collar Hooligan is a fast paced crime thriller that moves away
from football, firms and clashes in order to tell the well-worn tale of
loyalty, betrayal and greed – available on DVD in the UK courtesy of Momentum
Pictures.
It follows the fortunes of a die-hard football fan drawn
into the life of easy money, fast women and theft. Or should that be fast money
and easy women? I can never tell. Mike Jacobs (Nick Nevern) is no stranger to
finding himself on the wrong side of the law. However, the all-out anarchy he
embraces on a Saturday afternoon is one thing, the get rich quick schemes
proposed by his friend, Eddie Hill (Simon Phillips), are something else
entirely. After a chance reunion, Eddie invites Mike to join him in another
arena, one that peddles credit card fraud. Mike finds himself powerless to resist Eddie's lucrative
offer. As the money starts to pile up, Mike finds himself sinking ever deeper,
digging a hole he might never escape from.
With White Collar Hooligan, Paul Tanter has delivered an
efficient British drama that fails to break new ground, but still entertains in
customary fashion. There are so many crime thrillers like this, it’s hard to
imagine what drew the filmmakers to it, but White Collar Hooligan entertains in small doses. Mike Jacobs is your typical, run of the mill English
lout, and Nevern is certainly no Tom Hardy (he’s not even Danny Dyer come to
think of it). The remainder of the cast are a who’s who of British screen
‘talent’. You’ll probably recognise most of them but might not remember where
from. Either way, they fail to make a lasting impression thanks to a
workmanlike script that offers nothing fresh.
Tanter doesn’t waste time on character development, depth or
originality; he races out of the blocks and tells his story in less than 80
minutes. If you’re looking for a soulless quick fix this might be your ride,
but if you’re hoping for something that scratches beneath the surface, you’ve
come to the wrong place. There’s very little
chance of you caring about any of their plights. Which means that – when events
do transpire – the impact is lessened and White Collar Hooligan leaves you
feeling cold. There’s a neat twist at the end of the movie, but Tanter’s latest
shares more in common with a guided tour than an actual movie going experience.
Much like the football hooliganism the cover art portrays,
depth, tension and drama are glossed over in this working class thriller.
There’s a solid if unspectacular story to be told here, but if storyline, characterisation and depth are the
tortoise, Tanter is most definitely the hare – and we all know how that story
goes. AW
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