❚ TO BE HONEST the trailer for Top Dog was way too visceral for Shapersofthe80s to view out from behind the sofa. Martin Kemp’s latest film as a director for Richwater films is described by its producer Jonathan Sothcott as “the definitive hooligan movie”. If you insist on watching the “all a bit Lock-Stock” trailer, be warned: gratuitous macho swaggering from the outset, plus bodies being broken! The Strong Men at GQ have this to say about it …
➢ Click to view Top Dog trailer at GQ magazine
“ The British gangster genre is a tough nut to crack. Channel Four got it right with the excellent Top Boy, but cinema has often fallen short of the mark. For every Layer Cake and Wild Bill, there’s a thousand more films that just aren’t tough enough to survive in the world of dodgy East-End pubs and expertly tailored football hooliganism. Thank goodness, then for the release of Top Dog, a new British thriller adapted from the novel of the same name by Green Street’s Dougie Brimson. Starring Leo Gregory (a veteran of the genre after roles in Green Street and EastEnders) as a football firm leader who takes on more than he can handle when he tries to reclaim his family’s pub from a group of no-nonsense gangsters. While it may do little to change Britain’s reputation as a nation of football hooligans, for those looking for something to fill the void left by Gary Oldman’s 1989 original of The Firm and 2005’s Green Street, Top Dog is a tense, Elijah Wood-free alternative. ”
Top Dog is released in cinemas May 23 and on Blu Ray and DVD May 26.
➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣ 