Layer Cake (2004)

Brit crime thriller starring Daniel Craig as a drug dealer who – just as he’s about to retire – becomes wrapped up in a dangerous world of gangsters. 

It’s highly stylised, but oddly unsatisfying. The twists and turns of the plot are difficult to follow. And some parts seem clichéd, such as the Scorsese-lite touch of using “Gimme Shelter” on the soundtrack. It’s violent and nasty, too. 

Michael Gambon is an impressively horrid villain, and Daniel Craig is always watchable, but there’s a shallowness that makes it hard to like. It aims for “gritty” but only achieves “depressing”.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013)

When the North Norfolk radio station is taken over by a multinational corporation, DJ Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney) is sacked – partly because of the urging of self-centred rival Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan). Farrell then holds the station to siege, and unexpectedly it seems that only Partridge can save the day.

On first viewing, at the cinema in 2013, this was a huge disappointment to me as a fan of various Alan Partridge TV programmes. Whereas those allow the slow, painful comedy of Alan’s vanities to unfold, this film-length adaptation loses that excruciating magic through its fast-cut scenes and rapid dialogue. The story is OK but the other characters are too prominent to be left so undeveloped. Michael (Simon Greenall) and Lynn (Felicity Montagu) seem to be there only as a nod to their TV roles, and not because the plot requires them, so the comic talents of both are wasted.

There are a few good chuckles, but it isn’t the glorious study of ego and insecurity that Partridge delivers at his best. A second viewing reveals more to admire, and you notice how clever a lot of the writing is, but it still lacks the outright hilarity you might be hoping for.

Pixie (2020)

Plot: “Pixie Hardy sets out to avenge her mother's death and attempts a heist that will give her the means to leave her small-town life behind. When the plan goes horribly wrong, she's forced to team up with a pair of misfits who are clearly in over their heads. On the run from a criminal gang of priests and nuns, the trio tries to scheme and swindle anyone they come across.”

Superb comedy crime thriller set in Ireland. It’s funny, perfectly scripted and surprisingly violent. Olivia Cooke is fantastic in the role of the charming, intelligent and resourceful Pixie. Ben Hardy, so hopeless in Bohemian Rhapsody, is also excellent. Even Alec Baldwin, a disaster in It’s Complicated, is spot-on as the ruthless Father Hector McGrath. 

The road-trip and shoot-out elements owe something of a debt to Quentin Tarantino, especially his True Romance, but Pixie feels so fresh that it doesn’t matter at all. 

The scenery looks great, too.