Precisett This movie is magnificent!

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Jazzy31133 One of the movie sub-genres I enjoy is British underworld / British Football Hooliganism. It is a nice change of pace from American mob movies, yet still includes the violence and action I enjoy. I go into these movies acknowledging there probably will be an absence of award winning dialogue, emotional relationships and gripping plot. But I expect gritty violence and for the movie to bring realism to that type of criminal behavior. Some movies do end up having great acting and a nice plot twist and that can elevate the underworld movie to a classic, but the Guvnors is not one of those. The movie has its pros, but its cons ultimately would make this a pass for me.The movie's plot revolves around a local hoodlum with an established gang. Not satisfied with earning an illegal income and terrorizing innocent members of the community, he also craves respect. Some community members mention the old gang that use to run the streets, and how that gang "ran things the right way". Some he sets off by causing mayhem and coercing the retired old timer to come and meet him for a showdown on the street. It is a little silly how some recent British crime movies draw on this premise – that old time gangsters were somehow more noble that current gangsters. I guess if you steal and rob by only being somewhat violent, you are considered more civilized that someone who uses more violent methods. But alas, that is the premise of this movie.The somewhat irrational plot can be overlooked, because when we rent these movies we just want violence in a realistic atmosphere. And the fight scenes do deliver. There are typical slow motion fight scenes and drug den robberies. The hoodlum actors do a good job of making us believe we are witnessing how a drug dealer behaves. However, for some reason the screenwriter tried to involve way too many plot lines and twists. And this leads to scenes introducing characters for no reason, twists that begin to distract the viewer due to their implausibility and an ending that does not really make sense.It is a little frustrating spending time watching a movie and then being rewarded with such a poor ending. I feel as though it is easy to deliver on a crime drama. Just give us a crime story with one twist and punctuate the movie with violence. And the viewer agrees to overlook a hackneyed plot and weak character motivations. But when the plot beings to get muddled and characters make choices that make no logical sense, it can be a problem. And when these problems are so severe that they actually being to distract the viewer and ruin the realism of the movie, that is a problem. I would suggest trying another movie in this genre. Ultimately, plot revelations that made no sense and a rather silly ending will leave you very unsatisfied.

mattwilkesuk I watched it because it was a "Netflix Feature" and the football hooligan genre kind of appealed as the last movie I watched along those lines was I.D. with Philip Glenister and Warren Clarke - a very good if slightly disturbing film.The Governors had wooden acting coupled with a flimsy plot - and the mandatory twist seemed like it had been thrown in at the 11th hour and was at best far-fetched.If you're drunk and can stay awake long enough, you may find some of the ill-choreographed fight scenes mildly entertaining, otherwise it's a firm NO from me.Another hour and a half of my life I'll never get back!

FlashCallahan Mitch lives in suburban London, having turned his back on his previous life of casual violence and intimidation as part of a legendary South East London firm. In the modern day he's the denizen of respectability and confidence, but Mitch used to be a Guv'nor. When his soon tries to emulate him, and an incident happens in his old stomping ground, this holds a mirror up to Mitch and shows him the monster once again, dying to break out and wreak havoc.......If your reading this review, then your like me, you've always had a soft spot for this type of Sub genre, the urban crime movie. Now here, it's more of the same, but the makers of the film have gave it a little spin, making it old school versus youth.Its predictable fare, the young lads are depicted as the hooded sludge we see on most street corners everyday. You know the ones, speaking in a faux American accent, and walking like they have stones in their shoes. Oh how they vex ones mind..And then you have the old boys. They all have good jobs, nice houses, and really good skin, despite the years of booze and violence. You know the ones, still a bit tasty, but never forget to 'ave a larf. And you recognise them from being on the telly when they were younger.But then silly old seventies teen pop heart throb David Essex goes and punches the one from Rizzle Kicks, and it all goes down.And that's the film. We have the young ones running the street being abhorrent, and the old ones not doing too much apart from sit around and wait for the big fight at the end.Add former top ten, and MTV star Richard Blackwood, and the bloke from Soaps, and you have this totally, perfunctory slice of urban crime.But what makes it rise above other Brit flicks, is the fact that it has a nice twist to it, that I never saw coming.Perfect for a Sunday evening when nothing else is one.

frompagescreen Its no secret that when in 2013 I first heard about a project called The Guvnors, I figured it was headed to be a pretty low budget UK crime drama, perhaps it would be about a crime family, perhaps another football violence movie. (nothing wrong with any of those guesses, low budget isn't bad, I love crime family dramas, and I have a few football violence movies on my DVD shelf even though I am not a football fan)Then came the trailer.Thats when I realised that I really was way off base with my initial article posted last year. On all counts.Opening with a scene that very much unnerved and shocked the viewer, its with this appearance of a battle scarred Adam (Harley Sylvester) that we are totally assured that 'The Guvnors' isn't a tale of how wonderful the world is, or how everyone is nice to each other. We are dropped firmly in the world where violence exists and knows no boundaries. This opening scene sets the film up perfectly and reminds us of things we read in the paper every few days. So is 'The Guvnors' about Adam, well yes and no. Because we are also shown the world of 'The Guvnors' through the eyes of Mitch (Doug Allen) who has put down his violent past and carved himself out a somewhat 'normal' family life with his wife and young son, who we also get an insight into as he discovers who he is but also learns who his father used to be.This is where the absolute genius of 'The Guvnors' shines brighter, taking us into a multi generational trip showing us the world on many levels, from child to young adult, to adult, to pensioner. All tying the story threads up brilliantly in its 95 or so minutes. There isn't a single frame or second of film here that isn't needed to drive the story or the characters and when you get to the end of the film and think "Damn I want another 90 minutes of this" then that perhaps is the best review someone can give for a film.There aren't many films where you see an entire cast that is excellent. Not one single person out of place and not one line spoken where you think 'oh, that went wrong' I wont go through the list of the entire cast, You can see them for yourself by checking out the IMDb page Two performances that I have to talk about. Are that of Harley Sylvester (playing the role of Adam) and Charley Palmer Merkell (who played the role of Trey)The performance awards belong to these two guys. Charley is scary beyond belief, in a sort of way you'd cross the road to avoid walking past him in case a glance or a nod was taken the wrong way and he would bring you down in a second. I've met people like Trey and he nailed it to absolute perfection, tip toeing the line between psychotic and calculating.I remember thinking "Charley Merkell has gone one hell of a future ahead" whilst watching the film, and then this morning I see that he is currently filming Legend with Tom Hardy.Now lets move onto Harley Sylvester. Again I am not going to shy away from sharing my thoughts previous to watching 'The Guvnors' When I heard that one half of music act Rizzle Kicks was going to be in the film. Yes I did cringe. However, me cringing at a casting choice isn't something that would ever put me off watching a film. So I went into 'The Guvnors' with a blank mind. Once again, I was wrong. Harley Sylvester was mindblowing in the role of Adam. Sporting a very painful looking scar down his face, Adam is without a doubt a character that will go down in the British film legend list, alongside Noel Clarke in Kidulthood/Adulthood. Harley plays the role to its maximum, showing us that he is both feared, but also showing that he might just be the person he is because thats what life has made him, he has been crafted that way to survive and protect his family and friends. So often in films we see cardboard cut- out 'villains' Adam isn't one of those and in certain scenes we (or at least I ) felt sympathy for him.Its easily in my Top 10 of the year so far, and Id like to thank everyone involved in that film for proving me wrong when I figured that 'The Guvnors' would be another typical run of the mill urban drama made on a small budget. Thank you for proving me wrong. Now heres to 'The Guvnors 2'