cupure logo
ozzyozzy osbourneosbourneshowdiesreviewdeathblackrevealsmalcolmjamal

Reputation review – front and swagger in brawling portrait of British male rage

A drug dealer begins to question his life choices but his bullying partner-in-crime refuses to let him goSquint and you can picture the two leads of this film playing the Gallagher brothers circa the big Oasis bust-up of 2009 – all front and swagger, eyebrows set into aggrieved furrows. Instead, in this small-time British crime drama, James Nelson-Joyce and Kyle Rowe play old mates dealing drugs in the fictional northern town where they grew up. It’s a brawling tale about a man who feels trapped by toxic masculinity, though in the end the film too backs itself into a bit of a dead end of macho violence.Nelson-Joyce is Wes, who has been questioning his life and choices since his best mate Tommy (Rowe) went to prison. Wes and his girlfriend Zoe (Olivia Frances Brown) have just had a baby, and there’s even talk of a job. Then Tommy is released, a repugnant bully unwilling to let Wes go. Rowe’s ferocious performance feels horribly real, like an angry dysregulated little boy with a need to break anything he can’t have. Tommy’s rage gives the film some nauseating moments; perhaps even harder to stomach is the casual misogyny in Wes’s circle. Reputation is a grim portrait of male rage, though it doesn’t seem particularly interested in the reasons behind it. Continue reading...

Comments

Culture