One of the best films i have seen

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Saxon is a half-deserted concrete maze of flats reminiscent of the desolate ghost towns in an old western. It is through this gray concrete landscape with its cast of urban characters that Eddie, recently released from prison, searches for his old friend, Kevin, who has mysteriously vanished just when Eddie needs to hit him up for cash. Saxon opens with a bang, or I should say pain, as we see Eddie losing an eye to a loan shark he owes ten grand, and that is why Eddie goes in search of his old friend. Kevin is recently "cashed up" after winning big on a game show. When Kevin's wife offers Eddie money for finding Kevin the game is on as Eddie, no experienced sleuth, begins to roam Saxon in search of the vanished Kevin. Eddie, the proverbial loser, is one of those souls forever lost in the gray of urban life. Put upon at every turn, constantly in physical danger of losing life and limb, not to mention his other eye, Eddie becomes a bleeding open wound but with dogged determination he soldiers on. There is a bitter-sweet scene between Eddie and his prostitute mother, there are a host of urban characters weaving in and out of Eddie's quest and quirky bits of humor... Eddie his hair half cut with his eye patch, looking for all the world like an urban pirate. Greg Loftin's script is gritty, dark and humorous by turns with interesting characters and some fine camera work. It's a crime-story/western/modern urban quest with a wonderful performance by Sean Harris as Eddie and fine supporting roles with Sarah Matravers and Michele Connolly. Great first time out for Greg Loftin. I hope to see a Saxon sequel one day.

England has council estates, we have housing projects here. Saxon estate makes our projects look like a home in the suburbs. Further, it's being evacuated to make way for a new runway for the airport which borders the estate. Remaining are the die-hards; the people with nowhere to go, the elderly, the forgotten, and the ones who only can dream of leaving but don't know how or have the courage to leave. They can exist in this environment. It's barely inhabited, but what and who remain are daily "trouble." Eddie Pierce was one of those inhabitants, until he got himself sent to prison. And now he's out – so he returns to the only place he knows – Saxon estate. His one friend, Kevin, has won 1 million pounds in a quiz show but has gone missing. Eddie, on the other hand, owes a debt which has grown to an impossible sum, and has little time to settle up. Eddie's only source of repayment will be to find Kevin before time is up. Eddie he offers his services to Kevin's wife for a price – to find Kevin. And so Eddie's return to Saxon begins; Eddie is no private detective. He is an ex-con, and Eddie has his own demons to carry. Sean Harris and the estate are the stars. Saxon estate is a bad dream turned nightmare. Eddie is quite inept as he begins his return. He is resourceful, but a screw up. He's bad, too open, draws too much attention, and is none too discrete. At every turn, a new evil pops out. The film is evenly-paced and not a moment is wasted. It is a dark movie, even when filmed in full sunlight. Edgy, gritty and the comedy is dark, subtle humor because Eddie's character is a puzzle and he is desperately following a mystery. But, he needs to survive Saxon as he walks a path toward being its victim -- again. It's a thriller and a good mystery. Two stories are intertwined – Eddie's own story and his search for his friend. Excellent camera work in true Hitchcockian fashion. Long shots from above and down along the rows of the estate giving the viewer a feeling of being insignificant to the greater dangers that lie ahead (and they are real --- think "Psycho" (Martin Balsam on the stairs) or Cary Grant, "North by Northwest", waiting on the road, alone, by the empty cornfield; you just know trouble is coming). Hitchcock would have loved this film, and the sly tongue in cheek humor. Also, shot in close up giving Sean Harris the means to act especially when he has little dialogue, because that is what Harris does. He acts. Harris carries this film (his first lead). The irony is that all those who remain are living next to an airport. Warning: some (lots of) simulated violence. With a quick compliment on the scenes with Eddie's screen mom. They are especially compelling together. With a special applause to the actress that played Mrs. Pierce, Sue Maund.

I had the good fortune of watching this film at a preview screening in London last week. I hadn't heard a lot about the film and neither had most people at the half full cinema. Well more fool the half of the audience who didn't turn up as this was without doubt one of the freshest and funniest feature films to emerge in ages.Right from the gripping opening sequence, Saxon grabs you by the scruff of the neck and pulls you along for an uproarious ninety minutes. It's difficult to classify the movie, part spaghetti western, part thriller, part dark comedy with a touch of redemption and dash of romance set in a run down estate called Saxon. To it's complete credit it never feels like a mish mash of ideas, in fact the complete opposite. It all works and combines seamlessly to introduce different characters and subtle story lines that all build to an explosive ending.There are numerous little sight gags and one-liners that had the audience in stitches throughout the film, as well as touching moments that had you really rooting for Eddie, the anti-hero. Sean Harris does an excellent job in the lead role and is supported by a cast that most people will never have seen before but who are all superb, particularly the actor who plays the estate villain. I'd never seen or heard of him before but he certainly made the head bailiff extremely menacing.It's hard to find fault with the film, even more so when you find out that this film was made on a shoestring budget by a first time feature writer/director. It never feels that way and looks superb. Sure you can see that a few corners have been cut here and there but it never detracts from what is a completely rewarding ninety minutes!

You would be forgiven from reading other reviews of this movie for assuming it is a gritty gangster film set in a gritty London council estate. But if you make the effort to check it out you will be rewarded and surprised as it is really nothing of the sort; it is actually a mish-mash of reverential genre-hopping that adds up to a nice slice of entertainment.Set almost entirely within the confines of the titular housing estate the plot concerns recent jailbird Fast Eddie (Sean Harris) returning to his familiar stomping ground trying to track down an old pal that has won a large sum on a TV quiz show. Eddie needs money desperately to settle a debt to some nasty characters who have already gouged out one of his eyes and intend to relieve him of the other if he doesn't stump up the moulah quick smart. Unfortunately his pal has disappeared so he enrols as Private Dick for the missing pals wife, offering to find out what has happened in return for a payment that gets him, literally, off the fish-hook. Nicely paced, the film gives us the pleasure of a slow-reveal, as the various characters we meet, who seem random at first, eventually form part of a jigsaw that fills in all the gaps and lead us to a satisfying conclusion. Along this journey we are treated to all manner of movie conceit as a relatively simple idea plays out in a stylish manner that belies it's zero budget and manages to pay homage to the movies in a way that only a director who still feels the thrill of the big screen could manage to do.We get more than our fair share of Kubrick, especially The Shining; a cute dose of Leone; a sprinkling of David Lynch and, very surprising in a small independent BritFlick, what seems like Wong Kar Wei. It is actually a film for those that like film and some viewers may find it a little pretentious at times but there is enough tension and black humour to sustain most and the cast manage to hold back on the histrionics despite the script giving them plenty of scope to go berserk. Harris is particularly good at this, hesitant and reserved in his delivery he just about gets our sympathy even though Eddie is as much a ne'er do well as most of the inhabitants of this very separate universe. Of course, the other star is the estate itself, more malevolent in the bright sunshine than it has a right to be; this is a directorial gamble that pays off very nicely. With the exception of a scene involving a lift you don't get a real feeling of palpable dread at any time, mainly because the characters are mostly bonkers - but you do really, really want to know what happens.Saxon could possibly have been a little more compact and some scenes are merely there for fun, but it is a good idea, very nicely shot, well acted and when you think of the tripe that gets cash thrown at it, even in the independent world, you wish Loftin the best of luck to get more films made of this nature. Sassy, flawed but ultimately satisfying the best thing you can say is that it is fine entertainment and well worth the price of admission.