Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

THE DEADLY GAME is a middling addition to the current wave of British crime thrillers. It has a large cast of interesting characters but also a rather murky storyline lacking in characters to root for. The scripting and directing are strictly pedestrian and the story is never quite as suspenseful as you'd wish for. The main thing it has going for it is an excellent cast of well-chosen actors. Toby Stephens plays a hitman with cold-faced relish. Rufus Sewell is a corrupt cop but nonetheless full of charisma throughout. Gabriel Byrne plays an imposing crime boss and there are more minor roles for James Frain, the underrated Julian Sands, Ralph Brown and Neil Maskell.

The best thing I can say about this experience is that it has inspired me to thoroughly clean my streaming queue. This film has an 84 minute playing time, but it feels more like like I lost at least two solid hours of my life here for no reason at all. By all appearances, even the actors lose interest as this derivative corrupt cop story progresses to it's predictable finish. The movie really doesn't start out that badly, kind of like a decent BBC TV production, but that's the highpoint, and it's only steadily downhill from there all the way to the end. If you are waiting, as I was, for this film to redeem itself in some way, well, that moment never comes. Simply put, this film is really quite bad. Gabriel Byrne and Julian Sands must be way past their "sell by" dates and desperately in need of paychecks. At least, that's the most charitable excuse I can think of for getting involved in this dreck.

Movie is plodding and predictable. I only found it because I am indulging a Rufus Sewell swoon, saw the title listed in his IMDb credits and located it on Netflix. The Bad: The "plot" is a pastiche of so many (better) movies from the past 20-30 years. Actually from the beginning of movie-making (smile).The Good: So many terrific character actors with arresting faces (another reason I love Rufus). So it was worth a watch late on a Friday night. Relaxed with a drink in hand. Linking the faces to other movies and TV series.Over the past 2 years, I have binge-watched so many Brit and Aussie TV series and movies especially. I favor crime and drama. A long visit to London (and the Cotswolds) is on my bucket list. So while I respect the reviewers who say this movie doesn't present the London they know, the exterior shots sure look inviting to me here in Pennsylvania. Having lived previously in Washington, D.C., and environs, I know the annoyances of seeing exteriors that truly do not represent that city.

I also disagree with Nick Stones review.Slow to start - definitely not. I was glued to the screen from the moment the film began.This was a slick British crime drama that I've come to expect from the Brits. No one writes mystery and crime drama like they do.And you could not have asked for better actors to play their respective roles; from Rufus Sewell, Gabriel Byrne, to Toby Stephens they all provided excellent performances.The one thing I love about British crime drama is that many writers fail purposely or not to explain everything, they leave the audience to figure out various parts of the plot line, which I personally like and approve. And this movie had a lot of plot twists and unexpected results that will have your jaw dropping.I recommend this movie to anyone who appreciates British crime drama.