Best Laid Plans Review

Director: David Blair

Cast: Stephen Graham, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, David O’Hara

Running time: 108 minutes

Certificate: 15

Synopsis: Nottingham-based street hustler Danny (Graham) owes a great debt to local gangster Curtis (O’Hara)and has no means to pay it off. Consequently, Danny is forced to lend child-like friend Joseph (Akinnuoye- Abaje) to Curtis’s illegal boxing ring to pay back his debt.

BEST LAID PLANS is billed as an adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel ‘Of Mice and Men’. Clearly it has a likeness to the classic book, but as the filmmakers admit, this tale takes more of an inspiration from Steinbeck’s Great Depression story rather than being a genuine adaptation, and refocuses the action to a dreary, and indeed very depressive modern day Nottingham. Graham plays down-on-his-luck street criminal Danny, who has somehow got himself into a little bit of trouble with big time crime lord Curtis (think Brick Top crossed with Duncan Bannatyne, and I mean that with the greatest respect). Danny is £10,000 in the red with the boss man following a haul of ‘goods’ going missing in a bad deal, and now he has been given a second chance to pay Curtis back. Being at the level of crime that Danny is – we see him and best friend, the mentally challenged Joseph  stealing a washing machine from a local high street store in the film’s opening scene – he has no immediate ways or means to pay Curtis back. His only option is to use his long time friend Joseph, a huge hulk of a man in physical form, to partake in a series of illegal undergound cage fights to pay back ‘every penny that he owes’.

And so the story continues. There are a series of subplots to sink our cinematic teeth into, and there are a number of key relationships that are focused upon, which actually are at the true heart of the story that director David Blair and writer Chris Green are trying to tell; the main one being between Danny and Joseph (the George and Lennie characters, if you will). Then there’s the relationships that both men begin during the course of the story – Danny hooks up with local prostitute Lisa (Emma Stansfield), and Joseph lovingly falling for Isobelle (Maxine Peake), also a mentally ill thirty-something still living and being cared for by her loving parents. Their relationships, all three of the them, are at the core of this drama, and despite the film posters and even the trailer, which suggests a SNATCH-style gangster flick or a below par straight-to-DVD blood and fisticuffs thriller, this is clearly not amongst that crowd. In the work, the crime, the fighting, the guns and the gangsters are almost parked in the background, almost the subplot in themselves. This is a character piece and it’s all about these four people and the hardships that they are all going through in their own individual ways; how they choose to live their lives and their plans to get to the place that they ultimately want to be.

This is British film-making in its rawest, most low-budget form, and everyone involved is clearly in it for the love of the material. I’m not saying that the film doesn’t have its flaws. I struggled with certain elements of the screenplay involving the crime side of things, and some of the villainous characters were almost cartoon-like, which doesn’t marry up with the gritty parts of the drama unfolding, and as a result, doesn’t really work all that well. However, the script flows well, and all of the cast make good with the material that they are given, often improvising in key scenes. There are some outstanding performances, most notably from the superb Stephen Graham in a leading role that highlights him as one of our most exciting, talented actors, showing that he has potential as one of the best actors of his generation. He’s simply outstanding in this. His performance is also complimented by that of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, seasoned star of TV series LOST and OZ, who brings a soft touch to the hardened role of Joseph, a gentle giant not to feel sorry for, but to encourage through his path to glory and ultimately love and happiness. There are also strong supporting performnces from the wonderful Stansfield and Peake.

BEST LAID PLANS, while not for everyone, both absorbs and entertains on both levels. I should imagine that the film will do better on its upcoming home entertainment release, but it is more than deserved of its selected theatrical run. The film surprised me in a very positive way, and released in a week saturated with over-cooked, big budget Hollywood tosh, you can do far worse than see they very satisfying piece of British cinema.

   BEST LAID PLANS is released in UK cinemas from 3rd February 2012, and on DVD and Blu-Ray from 20th February 2012.