Sugarhouse (15)
In Gary Love's determinedly gritty Brit-crim movie, three good actors chase around a script that keeps promising more than it delivers. Set in the badlands of an east-London housing estate, it concerns a middle-class Everyman (Steven Mackintosh), a desperate crack addict (Ashley Walters), and a murderous drug kingpin played by Andy Serkis, who appears to have more tattoos on his head than most people could fit on their body. The quest for a hand-gun brings this trio into violent confrontation.
The script by Dominic Leyton, based on his earlier play, is one of those self-consciously ballistic efforts in which someone says a line and then repeats it with savage emphasis. Scenes are extended way beyond their dramatic potential. Serkis's maniacal performance will be the talking-point, though try as he might, it's still not as scary as his Gollum.
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