First-time writer and director Eran Creevy delivers a film full of uneasy silences, punctuated by laddish banter and just enough action to keep you gripped.
Comment
04/24/09
Shifty (2008)
96
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:23
Fresh:22
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7/10
Rated: 15
Genre: Thriller
Theatrical Release:24-04-2009
Starring: Jason Flemyng, Francesca Annis, Daniel Mays, Riz Ahmed
Reviews for Shifty
Creevy eschews the woozy, arthouse ambience of Duane Hopkins' Better Things - another portrait of a drug-decimated community - for naturalistic dialogue and performances within carefully framed and composed shots; properly cinematic, grown-up direction.
04/24/09
Top CriticA tightly-structured, hard-working thriller with a raw feel for character and place, and an optimistic outlook on the need for friendship and taking responsibility for one's actions.
04/24/09
The story may not be entirely unfamiliar but writer/director Eran Creevy transforms autobiographical material into an engaging, energetic little drama that is full of promise.
04/24/09
Drug crime on the outskirts of London sounds neither promising nor original, but Eran Creevy's debut feature is more character study than the usual Britcrim parade of guns and geezers.
04/24/09
Shifty boasts convincing performances, even-handed characterisation, creeping suspense and energy to burn.
04/24/09
The dialogue is a nice mix of Pinteresque menace, drug lingo, laddism and cracking one-liners.
04/28/09
Good central performances in this highly, entertaining character-driven debut.
04/24/09
Top CriticIt doesn't hit home quite like it should, but director Eran Creevy deserves credit for delivering something better than the usual Brit gruel.
04/24/09
Couched in a kind of Pinteresque slum language that needs a glossary to be totally intelligible, the film boasts an authenticity and wholly natural performances, particularly from Mays, and is devoid of the usual clichés of its genre.
04/24/09
Mercifully free of Danny Dyer cameos or Guy Ritchie mockneyisms, this works as both an entertaining gangster thriller and a hard-hitting piece of social realism. Absorbing, moving and authentic, Shifty never once strikes a false note.
04/25/09
It is all done with conviction, is well acted, particularly by the two leads, and is a brisk, promising debut for Creevy.
04/24/09
Emotionally engaging, impressively directed and sharply written debut feature that side-steps many of the usual urban drama cliches and features terrific central performances.
04/24/09
Moving, gripping and funny, this is a homegrown gem you can’t help taking to your heart.
04/25/09
First-time director Eran Creevy kicks things up a notch with this shrewd and engaging drama, achieved on the smallest of budgets.
04/24/09
Top CriticThe film has a sense of authenticity and there's no sentimental suggestion that Shifty's way of life is the inevitable result of his background.
04/28/09
It's sharp, smart and incredibly funny. But most importantly it's real, with none of the macho gangsta posturing that often makes tough, yoof-centric drama look like a lazy British retread of Grand Theft Auto.
04/24/09
For a debut feature, Eran Creevy’s semi-autobiographical drama shows a remarkably light touch, set in an anonymous London suburbia far removed from stereotypical East End of the wideboy film tradition.
04/25/09
Written and directed by first-timer Eran Creevy, this quiet piece is mostly convincing in its mundane details, and doesn’t feel the need to ramp up its plot too precipitately into guns and threats and spiralling vendetta.
04/24/09
Top CriticCreevy’s fine ear for dialogue, sensitive and productive direction of actors and confident control of tone is all the more impressive for being delivered under the short schedule and tight budgetary exigencies.
04/24/09
Top CriticMore Movies
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