The Young Americans

Visually assured but unevenly paced, Cannon's ambitious first feature recalls such gritty British pictures as Get Carter and The Long Good Friday. Promising newcomer Kelly exudes vulnerability and confusion as Chris, a young club barman who is sucked into a maelstrom of greed and violence, after two criminals are gunned down by a posse of young wannabe gangsters, and a subsequent trial uncovers an international drugs operation. Keitel is the American cop, drafted in to 'advise' the drug squad, who cynically exploits Chris to settle an old score with dealer Mortensen. A sleek, violent, designer crime movie for style-conscious twenty-somethings.