Truly Dreadful Film

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless The longest Pringles advert ever seen, Noël Clarke is truly talentless

4.3.2.1 seems to think it's a hip, fresh, non-linear Brit crime thriller, a work of originality and verve. After all, the man behind it is Noel Clarke, who in KIDULTHOOD and ADULTHOOD made a pair of decent and modern urban dramas. Sadly, everything about this movie is a huge mistake, and it ends up as an extraordinarily superficial copy of Tarantino's masterwork PULP FICTION.The major problems with this film are the story and script, which both go nowhere. The "leads" are a group of dim, twentysomething girls living in London, their stories told individually and linking up at various points. Sexual exploitation, robbery, lesbianism and family drama are some of the topics covered, but they're all handled in the most mundane and unengaging way imaginable.It doesn't help that the characters are puerile, obsessed with the shallow pursuit of pleasure and thus giving the viewer no reason to get behind them. There's an unwelcome whiff of exploitation to the proceedings with one character (Shanika Warren-Markland) forced to spend the majority of her screen time in her underwear.The performances are terrible, particularly from the ultra-grating Emma Roberts (an actress who only exists thanks to nepotism) and the aforementioned Warren-Markland, although CAMELOT's Tamsin Egerton isn't much better. The format is peppered with more seasoned actors like Sean Pertwee and Kevin Smith, but they also ring hollow thanks to the moronic dialogue they're handed out. 4.3.2.1 truly is a stupid and offensively crass piece of movie-making.

I've not watched Adulthood or Kidulthood so perhaps I might have missed out on some background information on this film, but I thought this was a load of rubbish. There are some scenes that so disbelieving that there was no way I could take this film seriously. For example there was a scene where one of the main female character was upset for some reason decided to sit on the ground huddled up next to an empty bench. Then two guys come and sit on the bench talking about a crime unaware that she's is there. No they didn't have white sticks either. Then while into the midst of their sensitive conversation, oh look, they 'suddenly' spot the girl even though she's only about a metre away! Then question and chase after her, didn't catch her even though it was two tall men and one upset girl with big coat and bag! The main part of this storyline is some stolen diamonds. So where and how do they get these stolen diamonds? Outside Westfields where a guy hands a bag of them to one 'badguy1' to which badguy1 then slowly examines one of the diamonds by holding up to the light in broad daylight..... outside the busy Westfields..... in front of all the shoppers and the four girls there.... stolen diamonds..... I got up to 20 minutes of the DVD and couldn't take anymore. Everyone tries too hard, so I guess this was an instruction from the producers or writers of this script than poor acting. It felt like an Eastenders version of Sex of the City with some over hyped view of 'estate ganstas'.

Noel Clarke risks his growing reputation as writer/director with a quirky but clever crime caper. Yes it is very removed from Adulthood and Kidulthood but it is still a well crafted piece of writing and directing, with subtle use of a story seen from four different angles. The 4-3-2-1 of the title is neatly explained during the plot in more ways than one.The leads are all worthy of their billing with performances as diverse as you could wish for. Shanika Warren-Markland is a brilliantly mouthy Kerrys, Emma Roberts a wimpish but loving Joanne, Ophelia Lovibond as the misunderstood and misunderstanding Shannon, and Tamsin Egerton as the sophisticated rich kid musician Cassandra. On their own they are all reduced to big time losers in the course of the Friday to Sunday the film spans, but, together they triumph. And on the subject of smooth performers there is the deliciously dangerous Michelle Ryan, as Kelly, Noel Clarke as Tee and a great cast of support.The script makes much more sense as the film progresses towards its climax, and the story is cleverly unpeeled before our eyes. The humour expressed within this film both in dialogue and sight gags suggests it is to be taken tongue in cheek and that may upset some of Mr Clarke's followers but not me. I enjoyed every minute of its slightly less than 120 minutes.For entertainment value alone the film is easily worthy of 8 out of 10.