Love, Honour and Obey

Music lovers who liked Winstone's 'Hound Dog' in Fanny & Elvis may enjoy his fuller rendition of 'The Harder They Come' in this tough nut caper comedy, written, produced and directed by Anciano and Burdis (who also show up, quite amusingly, as a couple of bouncers, named - surprisingly - Dom and Burdis). Observing the familiarity, bordering on self-parody, with which Winstone plays North London gangster and karaoke king Ray Creed, cinemagoers may be less impressed. The film proposes aggravation between north and south, the latter run by Sean (Pertwee), who in Matthew (Ifans) has a henchman as trigger happy and incompetent as any of Ray's unlikely crew. Matthew's rivalry with the upcoming Jonny (Miller), a chum of Ray's dapper consigliere Jude (Law), leads to full scale turf war. Dispiriting.