Almost a great movie...

Nick Love's Outlaw is a fair British crime film that packs one heck of a punch and sends its message home explicitly. Films exported from Britain are usually irresistibly atmospheric and of a high standard (I loved Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, for example). I watched this film purely because of the presence of Sean Bean. In my opinion, Sean is one of the greatest actors currently working in contemporary cinema. He is also a versatile performer with a knack for establishing an atmosphere of malice and dread. Outlaw is a provocative, thought-provoking contemporary thriller that explores the roots of people's shattered lives and reveals the consequences and outcomes when victims of crime seek revenge by taking the law into their own hands. This is an outstanding concept with a promising marketing campaign. The cover and poster were especially good and tempted me to eventually give it a shot (Sean Bean's named in the cast initially sparked my interest, though).

The central characters are mainly victims of a decaying society that has abandoned them. War veteran Danny Bryant (Bean) is court marshalled and sent home. After this incident he has lost all sense of purpose and is fed up with the current state of his home. The plot expands as we are introduced to a bunch of other characters that have had enough of suffering through present society. The law has failed them. This assortment of disconsolate individuals form a modern-day outlaw posse with the intention of enforcing their own brand of justice by punishing the criminal underworld.

One of the taglines for the film reads "when order fails violence prevails" and this essentially sums up the quest that the group undertakes. The group were once disregarded by all, but in their quest they gain notoriety and become public icons. The media are having a field day with the updated information they are constantly fed about the group and their latest escapades. It's only when their personage exceeds their success that the legacy of the group is threatened.

Outlaw was met with mainly a congregation of criticism, which was one factor to consider when I comprehended my urge to watch the film. Currently, I believe this film to be severely underrated. Its themes are powerful and its message is delivered unforgettably. This fact alone deserves recognition as opposed to criticism. The production not only shows that possibility of revenge but also the reluctance and hesitation to engage in vengeful acts. Director Nick Love presents an interesting view of British society: home life, office life and country life as well as displaying other facets we expect from the culture.

Outlaw does deliver a meaningful message, but there are a number of flaws to be pointed out. One of the film's major drawbacks is the blurred style of the film: it's both an intimate examination of the vulgar British underworld as well as a crude vigilante flick. The film has transitory moments of true power, but unfortunately there is not much substance, causing interest to steadily dissipate during the middle section. The brisk running time of about 100 minutes also seemed far too brief. Although the film bogged during the middle section, I felt that there was definitely room to get engaged in the characters more effectively. Instead we move from one event to the other without much of a chance to breathe...and with little character development, we don't care and thus grow bored. If Outlaw dedicated its running time to more absorbing drama to flesh out each character, the results would have been superior.

I must also mention the style of cinematography that the filmmakers utilised. From the first few shots, it looks like a low-budget picture. It looks like it was filmed using cameras you can purchase for less than a thousand dollars. Sure, it adds to the atmosphere; however it's very detracting. The shaky cam during the action and punch-ups is despicable. This has taken shaky cam way too far. It's not effective as we have no idea which characters have been killed, which are still standing...and why these events are actually occurring. The shaky cam is also grossly overused, not to mention that the audio quality was sometimes poor. The dialogue is frequently hard to make out simply because the actors aren't enunciating correctly. This also reflects the directing, which is pretty poor throughout.

Sean Bean's performance as the depressed war veteran is stunning. His emotions come through profoundly, with dialogue delivery always convincing. His facial expressions are overwhelmingly powerful as well. This is one of the roles that the actor was simply born to play. Bean is the only actor who seemingly put in an effort to make his lines understandable as well. The other actors are merely average. Some of the actors have great moments, but not so much in other instances.

Overall, Outlaw is a missed opportunity and a waste of potential. It's underrated for sure due to its poignant message; however the filmmakers had a concept that could have been executed a lot better. The film is quite flawed, although it does make for decent entertainment.

6.1/10