Highly Overrated But Still Good

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I watched this because of Helen Mirren, not realizing that I saw the original starring Richard Attenborough. That film is highly thought of, but I did not give it a great review on IMDb and actually don't remember that much about it. In fact had I not looked up the 2010 Brighton Rock, I wouldn't have realized I saw the original.Brighton Rock concerns a rotten-to-the-core thug, Pinkie (Sam Riley) who must become involved with a shy waitress (Andrea Riseborough) in order to keep her from going to the police about a man whom he murdered. Her boss at the tea shop (Mirren) is afraid for her and sets out to try to bring him to justice. In the original, the tea shop owner, Ida, was played by Hermoine Baddeley. Talk about a difference in casting. Mirren is sexy and well- dressed, sporting a lower-class accent, and is marvelous.My problem with the original was I couldn't understand any woman, no matter how young, how desperate, falling for Dickie Attenborough. I wrote that had Dirk Bogarde played the role, you could at least believe she fell for his looks.Sam Riley as Pinkie is cute, if you don't mind that his face was slashed, but this part of the story is still weak. He is too abusive to Rose, and his attempts to be nice are pathetic. We see where she lives when Ida visits her at home. One step into Pinkie's place and I'd have been outside, running and screaming.Nevertheless, this is a well-acted, atmospheric, and tough film that will attract some viewers. But see the original for Attenborough's amazing performance.

Graham Greene's novel gets another treatment by Rowan Joffe. This new remake glosses the story in ways that pales in comparison with the grittier early version. At the center of the novel was the religion issue that both, the principal character, Pinkie Brown, and the woman he chooses to be his wife, Rose Wilson, felt strongly about. Hell is a dreaded place neither one wants to face. Pinkie is a remorseless thug who wants to rise among the criminal element operating in Brighton, the seaside resort, where the action takes place. Pinkie is an intense, and ambitious youth hell bent in avenging the death of his mentor, slain by a rival gang headed by the oily Colleoni, a powerful man in the underground. A set of circumstances influence Pinkie in the turn the story takes when he and Rose are photographed by a man at the pier with the man who Pinkie knows is responsible for the death of his friend.In the background of this version there are two groups, the Rocks and the Mods, two youth factions that meet in Brighton to fight one another, to the consternation of the businesses in town. Ida, who owns a tea shop, had been romantically involved with the man that was murdered; her suspicion falls on Pinkie, realizing he is a ruthless youth making his name among the criminal element. Ida, who employs Rose, realizes her waitress can be easily manipulated because she is weak. The main reason behind Pinkie's marrying Rose is to prevent her from testifying against him.Casting Sam Riley as Pinkie, changes the novel's tone. It is clear he is much older than an ideal man to portray the man at the center of the story. Not that Mr. Riley, a wonderful actor, is not up to task, but comparisons with the previous Pinkie of Richard Attenborough, he pales in contrast. Andrea Riseborough makes a mousy Rose and the excellent Helen Mirren is perfect as Ida. The supporting cast includes John Hurt and Andy Serkis among the players.

Having read the classic Graham Greene novel, and having seen the original film, and loving both, I had high hopes for this remake. However compared to the book and original this is awful in my opinion. I t is not true to the original story at all, yes character names and the basics of the plot are similar, but besides that... Of course to people who haven't read the book or know the plot, this may be enjoyable to you, but it probably won't. To many plot holes and unrealistic developments, which isn't surprising as they completely ignore a huge part of the novel. They do this so they can add their own twist on the story, but it doesn't work nearly half as well as the original. To conclude, if your a fan of the book, stay away.

I am so pleased I did not go to see this film. I would much rather have watched the original black and white version again and would recommend anybody else to do the same. Every part in this new version was acted better in the original. Hermione Gingold any day over Helen Mirren. The sound quality is very poor. Most people seemed to mumble their way through and clearly the director was not concerned in the least. The only bright spot of the film was the performance of Phil Davis' as Spicer. Though to anyone with knowledge of the book and the original film version the parts of Dallow and Spicer have clearly been switched. It is an intentional and convoluted switch for "politically correct" reasons which leaves the character of Dallow (played by Nonzo Anosie), central to the book and the original film, still in place for the final sequence despite Anozie's inability to carry the significant part of Dallow; hence the switch and Davis' part of Spicer being enhanced to cover it. Sam Riley tried his best, no doubt, as Pinky but frankly he wasn't a patch on Richard Attenborough's performance.