When heroin dealer Den Donovan (Vincent Regan) finds his carefully-constructed criminal empire falling to pieces and his family going the same way, it seems like curtains for the craggy career criminal. Pursued by Colombian adversary Carlos Rodriguez (Enrique Arce) and bent cop nemesis Hathaway (Joseph Millson) he must work out who to trust as he struggles to get his house in order.
This is pretty standard gangster movie fare, loaded with guns, sprinkled liberally with “f***s” and festooned with scantily-clad females. What’s supposed to set it apart is the family dimension, namely the relationship between Den and teen daughter Zoe (Lauren Coe). She’s now hooked on the powder he made his money from, and while there’s a sense Donovan is on a road to redemption it’s only a vague one. If the idea is we care about his plight, well it didn’t happen for this reviewer. Besides which the fatherly concern is lost amongst too many characters and situations jostling for the audience’s interest.
It’s based on the novel by Stephen Leather (adapted by director Sacha Bennett and William Campbell) and the heavily populated narrative might have worked over a couple of hundred pages. Here it’s close to two unremarkable hours of screen time and you never get an overall feel of who Den is and what makes him tick. Instead, there are a range of enemies and associates on display, some more interesting than others. Richie Campbell’s articulate assassin, nicknamed “The African”, was almost a movie in himself, one I would have preferred watching.
On the plus side, Regan and Millson lend some gravitas to their respective roles. Donovan and Hathaway are intended to be deadly opponents but this isn’t properly established and may have made a stronger centre for the drama. Sophie Colquhoun’s Louise is the film’s stab at a more empowered woman, a hooker with a gun fixation who says things like “A simple chat can be better than a hand job”! The script is notable throughout for some strange dialogue – “You spooks do like your cloak and dagger sh** don’t you?” and “What’s it going to be? Deep throat or deep end?” as said to a prostitute after her client has been murdered in a swimming pool.
Bennett, who brought us We Still Kill The Old Way, has an eye for British actors of yesteryear so viewers of a certain age will recognize the likes of Nicky Henson or Christopher Ellison. And at least the movie has some humour to it, albeit of the smuttiest kind.
It’ll please the beer and pizza brigade but any ambitions beyond that fail to take off. The student film-style opening sequence appeared to be providing some depth but is never resolved, which for me sums the film up. Tango One makes a lot of noise but goes round the houses rather than kicking the door in.
Tango One is out now on DVD and digital download.
