Vogul Over the last 20 years the majority of British films are about how horribly poverty stricken the UK is and how our youth doesn't stand a chance of a good life whilst they live on the mean streets of British cities. The British film industry is obsessed with the idea of 'broken Britain'. Trainspotting, This is England, Kidulthood, Football Factory, Kes and From London to Brighton.Bullet Boy is just another British movie added to that list. The main character expresses a desire to go straight yet he still insists on hanging around with dead beats who carry guns and fight with gang members over nothing. I was never convinced that he did want to go straight as there was nothing stopping him pursuing an education or a trade. In fact it would have been a breath of fresh air if he had of gone straight and we had a character who turned his life around. Instead he spends his time helping his friend trying to commit murder. I felt no sympathy when he is predictably shot by another teen at the end of the film, which is sad because at the beginning of the film I really liked the entire family and their desire for success. I believe the makers missed a great chance to show the world that success belongs to those who are willing to really strive for it (like the Pursuit of Happiness). I know the purpose of this film was to try and paint a realistic picture of what life is like for black teens living in working class areas of Britain but don't we already have enough films in the UK with that very same plot? Isn't it time these talented producers and writers give Britains youth something to aspire to and show them a better life is just around the corner?I applaud the makers of Bullet Boy for not loading the film full of mindless violence in order to try and get success through shock factors (like Kidulthood, Football Factory) but at the same time this movie offers nothing new to a long list of British films that are effectively dull and depressing to watch. There is no happy ending to this movie or any of the others I have mentioned.

Ali Catterall Back in 1980, Franco Rosso's Babylon, starring Aswad's Brinsley Forde, told the story of young black Britain under siege. Filmed around Deptford, Lewisham and Brixton in south London and financed by the National Film Council, it drew a fundamentally honest, unsentimental portrait, employing a rich, unsubtitled patois. Understandably, much of the film also dealt with racism - white on black - and its tragic repercussions.Twenty-five years on, the most significant (and depressing) thing about Saul Dibb's study of black Londoners is its frank recognition that the hate and violence has since turned inward - manifested in gun crime.In Bullet Boy, 20-year-old Ricky (Walters, aka So Solid Crew's Asher D) is paroled from youth custody and attempts to rekindle a relationship with his girlfriend Shea (Samuels). Hooking up with his hot-headed friend - the ironically named Wisdom (Black) - he almost immediately runs into trouble with rival Godfrey (Lawson) in a road rage incident. As the tit-for-tat feud escalates, Ricky's impressionable 12-year-old brother Curtis (Fraser) discovers a gun which Wisdom has given Ricky for his protection - and the murderous cycle of violence continues.This is a film of firsts. Arriving some 15 years after a brace of similarly-themed American films, such as John Singleton's Boyz N The Hood, this is the first film to spotlight gun violence in Britain's black community, and makes an interesting comparison. It's documentary maker Dibb's first feature too, having previously made 'Electric Avenue' and 'The Tottenham Ayatollah' for Channel 4 television. And it's Asher's (okay, Walters') movie debut.It's a cute - and astute - stroke of casting: he'd read the script while in prison for gun possession. And the cast is one of the things Bullet Boy has got right, featuring gutsy and unsentimental performances, particularly from the all too convincing lead, but also from stand-up comedian Curtis Walker as a former bad-boy-turned-pastor and Perkins as a pragmatic matriarch.The use of non-professional actors also imbues proceedings with documentary-style naturalism, matched by the film's east London locations, photographed by Marcel Zyskind in pitiless natural light, and employed very effectively during a recurring motif of a dead dog floating on a river like the ghost at the feast.Though Dibb cannot hope to encompass the whole subject matter in a 90-minute film, his focus on how gun culture affects the entire family unit is an intelligent approach, making the wider issue accessible - and subsequently harder hitting.If certain sequences appear heavy-handed - 12-year-old Curtis playing shoot-em-up videogames as a prescient prelude to tragedy; the Godfather-style juxtaposition between a church sermon and a murder - well, perhaps that's the way it ought to be.

02hbartosik-1 The most immediate thing that struck me about this film was it's perfect imitation of life - unbelievably believable, this move was EXACTLY like life is like, the accents perfect, the language appropriate, the whole story fantastic. I agree that if you do not live in London or at least have contact to the underground world you may not understand the movie very well, but rest assured this is a milestone in a whole genre of English ghetto movies - if you've seen the film 'Juice' starring Tupac Shakur you'll see a lot of connections in structure and plot but at the end of the day it's a unique, brilliant, enjoyable and in my opinion, perfect film.The actors are all skilled to the point where there acting is flawless - the 'bad guy' is not a generic evil psychotic skitzo, but rather just a down to earth nasty person. The hero, Ashley Waters, is lovable, conflicting and effortlessly cool as the friend, Wisdom, is both loyal but annoying at times (just like real friends can be!). The mother is loving and over protective (but not in a boring way, rather a sympathy evoking way which works excellently as she tries soooo hard to hide her pain) and the brother and his friend are both lovable and cool as well. A great film, on par with any Americano film, this is up there with Snatch, Lock Stock, Layer Cake and Trainspotting - it's different from all of them, but it is about crime and it is set in the slums of London, but rest assured it's original because I can't shake the feeling that stuff like this happens every day - even if it is a fascinating tale of revenge, deceit, horror and love. Ten stars! Go see now!

JesseFajemisin The main aspect of this production I appreciate is the authenticity and realism (as you could probably tell from the summary). As a black 17 year old who has grown up in "the streets", I took great pleasure in witnessing what I believe to be the FIRST British PRODUCTION to capture the realism when portraying "the streets", with the dialogue being the main feature of that.The way this comment has been written may not lead you to believe that it has been devised by someone that has grown up in similar conditions to the film, so you may be puzzled and think "Why would he bother about how they sound?", the way I speak when with certain friends that I have grown up with is different obviously to the way my education ad A-Level English Literature teachers have taught me to write. Therefore, to see my dialect finally emerge without the creators having to refer to the false "Ali G Handbook on how to talk street' is refreshing.The issues around guns that it is tackling is also refreshing to see, as the government and media tend to create scapegoats and leave the issue at that, rather than explore the roots of why things like guns tend to surface. Although the reasons in Bullet Boy is one of many types of reason, the film has explored it nonetheless.At the Question and Answer session after the screening I saw (involving Producers, Directors and Actors), there were 2 complaints that arose.The first was about the film stereotyping black people, I disagree with this and again have to say it is a true reflection of what happens often throughout many communities.There was also a complaint about the lack of hope. The director replied by informing the audience, the film's purpose was not a preaching device to miraculously change gun violence in the streets. Those weren't his words but I am sure you get the basis. I believe that the balance in Ricky, ex-convict who deep down is a nice person who wants to remain positive but faces many struggles, kills the idea of the film stereotyping. Ricky continuously states that the life he is entangled in isn't the life he wants to live, but makes the choice to keep the gun which sooner or later indirectly results in his death. Not only does the death maintain the realism and prevent a fairytale ending offering a false sense of security, it doesn't glamourise Ricky's choice to keep the gun. Although he is seen to be making attempts to break out of the streets cycle and RELUCTANTLY has the gun...he has it nonetheless.As mentioned before, Ricky's mentality juxtaposed with his actions provides a great balance for avoiding stereotypes in addition to an unrealistic ending.Great film.