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Cast: Ray Winstone, Joanne Whalley, Ian McShane, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Legeno, John Hurt, Stephen Dillane, Melvil Poupaud, Steven Berkoff
Colin is in agony, shattered by his wife's infidelity. However, he has friends who do more than stand by -- they kidnap the wife's French lover and hold him prisoner so that Colin can restore his manhood with revenge. A kangaroo court takes place and as the situation escalates Loverboy's life hangs in the balance as Colin wrestles with revenge, remorse, grief and self pity, all the while egged on by his motley crew of friends who just want him to get on with it so they can get down the pub.
44 Inch Chest is a Bloody revenge tale from the makers of the "Sexy Beast". It is hard to make a single brilliant film but these film-makers have managed to do it twice now.
Colin Diamond turns to his gangster buddies to help him kidnap, beat and torture the waiter who had an affair with his wife. The film has it's brutality but don't me fooled this is a character-driven thriller with plenty of foul and often hilarious dialogue as well as some tender moments tossed in to create a perfect balance to awaken the senses. If you get turned off or get offended easily by this sort of language then I suggest you look elsewhere but you would be missing out on a real gem here. Anytime you have a character piece like this you are going to need a cast that is capable of playing these kind of roles and the cast here delivers amazing performances. Ray Winstone is again marvelous as the heart-broken husband looking to seek revenge and Ian McShane is almost charming as the gay gangster but the real star here I thought was John Hurt, the foul mouthed friend that just wants to get it all over with so he can get to the bar, Hurt provides most of the laughs with his devilish tongue and he had me laughing out loud in almost every scene he was in. The less you know about the film itself the better, it wasn't what I expected it to be but it was so much better as well. 44 Inch Chest is a brutal,foul-mouthed thriller that rises above it's simple settings with smart and clever writing and a cast to die for. If the film had any flaws I would have to say it was the ending but it was one I didn't really expect considering how the rest of the film seem to be building to but it was different so I can over-look the not so brutal climax that I was looking for. Over-all a great piece of cinema and one I highly recommend picking up if you are a fan of the genre. This type of entertainment doesn't come along very often which is why I think this is a must-own and it is one film you will be telling your friends and family about. The DVD comes with Special Features that include:
Color; interactive menus; scene access; deleted scenes; behind-the-scenes featurette; trailer; additional featurettes.
Released by Image Entertainment. ***** Out Of *****