Movie Review: 44 Inch Chest
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Malice Intended
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Movie Review: 44 Inch Chest
By Malice Intended
Dark psychological dramas promise us the chance to indulge and analyze our deepest fears, and to confront frailties we would rather not think about. Often, the darker the premise, the more we are intrigued. When the story is grounded firmly in a real, plausible situation, it offers us a chance to explore our limits in a voyeuristic fashion. In order to truly satiate our morbid curiosity, the film in question has to have the courage of its convictions. It has to follow through on the dark path it maps out for itself.
44 Inch Chest tells the story of Colin Diamond (Ray Winstone), a London Gangster who is sent into an emotional tailspin when his wife Liz (Joanne Whalley) confesses that she has been carrying on an affair. Colin’s friends Meredith (Ian McShane), Peanut (John Hurt), Archie (Tom Wilkinson) and Mal (Stephen Dillane) kidnap Liz’s lover (Melvil Poupaud) and hold him hostage while the emotionally crushed Colin decides what to do with him. All the while, the possibility of violence hangs ominously in the air.
44 Inch Chest uses the world of British gangsters as its backdrop. The main plot, which revolves around one man’s struggle with his wife’s infidelity, is neither hindered nor helped by this device. The main characters could just as well have been guys with ordinary jobs. The result is a well-made actors’ showcase that sets up an interesting premise but has no real follow through.
The events unfold in a single room, the squalid conditions of which, seem to suggest Colin’s inner turmoil and confusion. The environment suits the material and ramps up the tension. The muddy browns and murky lighting go a long way towards fostering uneasiness with the viewer. Like the kidnapped loverboy, the viewer desperately wants to escape this drab torture chamber.
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