Reviewer's Rating 2 out of 5
Rollin' With The Nines (2006)
18Contains very strong language and sexual violence

The barrels aren't so much smoking as scraped in Rollin' With The Nines, a belated Lock, Stock wannabe that depressingly suggests British indie cinema is still in thrall to Guy Ritchie's 1998 caper. Boasting some of the same cast members and a similar attitude to criminality and mayhem, Julian Gilbey's thriller can't help but feel like second-hand goods. And while some will appreciate its urban grit and gangsta swagger, it's still at least two bullets short of the full clip.

What shells are left are mostly fired at the behest of Hope (Naomi Taylor), the sister of a murdered hip-hop artist (played by real-life pop star Simon Webbe) who responds to his shooting and her own brutal rape by wreaking bloody vengeance on the crack-dealing scumbags responsible. The convoluted plot that unfolds involves a couple of bent coppers, some Jamaican Yardies and a south London crime boss, unimaginatively portrayed by EastEnders hard man Billy Murray. Most of all, though, it involves lots and lots of death, with a rogue's gallery of street hoods, all bearing colourful monikers like Rage, Temper and Crikkit, taking turns to eat lead from the 9mm pistols of the title.

"ALL TOO FAMILIAR"

Two impressively staged action sequences - a drug-den police raid and a woodland car chase - point to what the director Gilbey could do with superior material, as does an ingenious montage detailing one shotgun's history of violence. For the most part, though, this seems all too familiar, from the cops' Pulp Fiction-style banter to the cheesy soft-core sex scene.

End Credits

Director: Julian Gilbey

Writer: Julian Gilbey, Will Gilbey

Stars: Vas Blackwood, Robbie Gee, Naomi Taylor, Simon Webbe, Billy Murray, Jason Flemyng

Genre: Crime, Thriller

Length: 96 minutes

Cinema: 21 April 2006

Country: UK

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