Buster

This is a love story, not a crime adventure. When Buster Edwards (Collins) receives his share of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, he doesn't know what to do with it except spend it. Soon he and his wife June (Walters) are stuck in Acapulco, down to £20,000. June, who can't bear to be without chips, rain, and bingo, takes their darling daughter Nicky back to the Elephant and Castle, and Buster, though he knows he'll get nicked, soon follows. We're invited to view Edwards as the archetypal cheeky Cockney, to condone his crimes, and commiserate when he gets his comeuppance: character development, moral perspective, and cinematic style are out of the question. The re-enactment of the heist, for instance, has no place for the iron bar used to 'persuade' the engine driver. There are a couple of good moments - the Edwards family emerging into the Mexican sun swathed in winter coats, the massive police presence at the inevitable arrest - while Collins and Waters make the most of seriously underwritten roles.