Watch Online Hollywood Romantic Drama Revenge Movie 44 Inch Chest Download Free Trailer Review Photos Cast Crew

44 Inch Chest Hollywood Movie 2010

Cast And Crew

Cast; John Hurt,Ray Winstone,Ian McShane
Tom Wilkinson Joanne Whalley
Dave Legeno,Stephen Dillane,Melvil Poupaud,Steven Berkoff
Directed by; Malcolm Venville
written by; (WGA) Louis Mellis&David Scinto
Produced by; Richard Brown,Steve Golin, Paul Green, Peter Heslop
Dave Morrison, Tim Smith
Original Music by ;Angelo Badalamenti
Release Date; January 8th 2010
Genre Drama
Production; Saga Productions Inc.
Distribution; New Yorker Films

SYNOPSIS:

The "44 Inch Chest" story unfolds when a jealous husband and his friends kidnap his wife's young lover, seeking retribution for his wounded ego. The film is a darkly funny and confrontational drama about a wronged man trying to rebuild his self-respect, aided only by a motley crew of his old friends.

Movie Review :

I saw this at the Sydney Film Festival, but IMDb has it as "in production", so I may have seen an incomplete version.) The pitch would have been something like "Reservoir Dogs meets Last Orders". From Reservoir Dogs we get the basic set-up of a bunch of crooks played by fine actors meeting in a lock-up and debating what to do with their captive, plus an enigmatic title and a flashback structure. From Last Orders comes a group of top-notch actors clearly enjoying themselves in a brown, downbeat London.
Some of the dialogue is fun if you like expletives spat out in poetry-like rhythms. There are good jokes and the acting is, as you'd expect from this lot, pretty fine. I was particularly pleased to see Stephen Dillane get his chance to prove himself cinematically after such an impressive theatrical career.
The downside is the plot, or rather the lack of it. The basic premise is laid out early on in the piece, and there is no real conflict to maintain our interest. Contrast the uniformity of opinion here with the combustible dynamics of Mr Blond, Mr White et al and the problem is clear. Some dream sequences intended to open the tale out feel forced, and a couple of minor twists are inconsequential.
if this script had been produced with a younger group of unknown actors it might get hailed for its promise. With this cast, 44 Inch Chest can only be counted a disappointment.
While agreeing with the first reviewer that the plot could be summarised in the two words "nothing happens", very much the same thing could be said of "Waiting for Godot" and half the plays of Pinter. Indeed the style of dialogue is very reminiscent of Pinter, with the five main characters each portraying an archetypical personality type.
The main point of the film is that the five characters are operating in a moral vacuum, and having to make their own decisions without influence from the law of the land or any other moral compass.
It would seem that the Law is simply non existent in their world - they kidnap into a van in broad daylight in front of many witnesses without disguising the number plate, and they finally let their victim go having inflicted on him an ordeal which would earn them each a long prison sentence with only the slightest word from John Hurt's character that they don't want to hear any more about it.
No, the whole point is that they, like the characters in Lord of the Flies, have to work it out for themselves.
And this freedom allows them the range to each demonstrate their character with the finest of English acting. Some of their characters are rather hackneyed, like Tom Wilkinson's who moves seamlessly from discussing with his mother about her favourite TV show into being a heartless thug, in a manner reminiscent of the second scene of Pulp Fiction, but the John Hurt character is beautifully drawn, by script writer, actor and director alike.
John Hurt plays an elderly man who clearly fancied himself as a ruthless thug in his younger days, and defines himself by his association with a psychopath gang leader. He is now treated with amused but slightly wary contempt by his friends, but is still determined to show his teeth by egging the Ray Winstone character into terrible and sadistic acts of revenge. The irony is that, in one of Winstone's psychotic daydreams, when given the opportunity to offer violence himself, his dentures fall out and he backs off, showing him for the toothless windbag he is.
The other major archetype is a louche gambler and homosexual predator played beautifully by Ian McShane. In a scene reminiscent of "The Dice Man" he agrees that life and death decisions are too hard for an individual to take, and accordingly persuades Ray Winstone that the decision between flaying alive and release should be taken on the toss of a coin.
The two main protagonists of the film are Ray Winstone, whose drink, shock and schizophrenia induced ramblings form the backbone of the script and Melvil Poupaud who never says a word and barely moves a muscle throughout the film. However, among a group of psychopaths, it is he, playing the kidnapped French waiter, who is the only one that the audience can relate to, and it is a tribute to Director Malcolm Venville that we know exactly what is going through his mind, despite his almost complete lack of expression.44 Inch Chest



This is a film about the struggle between revenge, blood lust and evil on the one hand and justice, decency and humanity on the other. It is about a man working through a psychosis and returning to rational thought. It is about how people can reach their own moral selves without influence from Church, Law or Society.
It is far from an action film, and if you want simple plot this is not the film for you, but it is a beautifully crafted set piece delivered by a very fine set of actors, performing a fine script and under subtle but powerful direction.