one of my absolute favorites!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

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

Having watched a lot of recent Hollywood blockbusters and thrillers of which of which THE PURGE sequel ANARCHY was the most gripping and thought provoking I thought perhaps I should diversify my viewing a bit . THE WEE MAN is a low budget crime bio-pic centered around Paul Ferris who was something of a cause celebre career criminal from a couple of decades back where he was found not guilty of a double murder . Now I'm not a big fan of these type of films because they're not very good and always seem to have the production values of a TV Sunday drama but a change is as good as a rest and sat down to watch THE WEE MAN . Within a very short period I thought was watching a remake of another film - a Scottish remake of THE PURGE ! Supposedly set in Glasgow it presents the city as a lawless wasteland where murders , rapes , stabbings and scalpings are everyones favourite past time . It's no good calling the cops because they're too busy organising death squads to abduct and maim passer bys . Is it any surprise that young Paul Ferris grows up to be a criminal , but please don't condemn him because he only kills and maims other criminals who did something to deserve it - or that's what the film is trying to tell us . I'm from Edinburgh so there's no way I'd be sticking up for Glasgow unless that city deserved it and this film is so bad I feel the need to defend the majority of Glaswegians who are friendly happy go lucky salt of the Earth types You don't have to be a career criminal to think if there's not only serious exaggeration but downright lies are going on here , same as you don't have to have ever served a prison sentence to know that the screws aren't going to just open up a cell and let you commit murder to get rid of a rival That's not how things work in Britain , maybe in South America or some other third world prison but not in Britain Some people on this page have pointed out many factual errors so allow me to contribute something I know is totally incorrect - the scene where Thompson Snr gives Ferris a safe house in Rothesay . Cut to a scene where Ferris and his wife stop their car outside a mansion that later ends with a police raid . Thompson did indeed have a holiday flat in Rothesay that got raided while Ferris was staying there but that's all it was - a holiday flat in a tenement which coincidentally is the same Rothesay street I lived in for four years , not some sprawling mansion with landscapes of hills . The only thing you'd see from the window would be the tenement opposite . This factual embellishment sums up this truly dreadful ugly film . Some things might have happened in reality at the most basic level but not anything like is portrayed here with massacres taking place left , right and centre . No wonder no one in Scotland wanted to co-operate with the production and had to be filmed in England due to the way it insults Scotland and its greatest asset -its people

I read the book "The Paul Ferris Conspiracy" and really enjoyed it, it had a tang of truth about it and a compelling narrative. This adaptation though, it's a different story.Never in the book, or indeed during Ferris's actual life, did he witness a point blank murder while a little boy. Thompson barely ever spoke to Ferris the whole time he dealt with him, he always got others to do business for him. His early knife crime exploits...Ferris went to lengths to try to explain that they always slashed, never stabbed...it's the difference literally between life and death, no young lad would have tried to carry out a mass murder like that! The gunfight at the beginning - in reality it was two guys firing old farmer's shotguns at each other, the film turned it into a Mexican cartel war. The revenge attack was just movie rubbish, total exaggeration.The portrayal of Ferris himself was pretty good, and the Junior role was even better, although Junior barely ever got involved in violence himself. He was also a smackhead and more fond of wearing tracksuits then actual suits! Worth watching, but it's far removed from reality.

Oh, I'm tired of this kind of film. So tired. I've seen it a million times before... And the usual 'Based On A True Story' moniker doesn't get it off the hook either. It's grown men acting like little boys in a big city (In this case Edinburgh) double crossing each other to prove who's top dog, while a corrupt police force looks on. There's drugs, booze, a strip joint with the ugliest broads this side of Essex, and a lead character who wants to leave this pointless rivalry and make 'a fresh start'. How nice. All the usual clichés in one place.Something tells me this script was approved by it's real-life subject Paul Ferris, as it shows him as a real family man, who managed to recover from a rough upbringing to become a big name on the streets. He might have got involved in a few shady dealings... but most of the time he was fitted up by the coppers, and what he did do was to support his wife and son. Besides, everyone else around him was so vile and nasty that his own antics paled in comparison. YAWN. Change the record.Next up: A wart-and-all biopic of Ronnie Biggs, who was a good chap at heart and only committed The Great Train Robbery because he needed medicine for his sick mother. You heard it here first... 5/10

Ray Burdis has been an entertaining talent to British audiences since the 1970's others may remember him from spoof cop series 'Operation Good Guys' or even the excellent film 'Love, Honor and obey'; either way he also directs and writes. This is his take on the auto biography of Paul Ferris the notorious gangster from Glasgow. Ferris is played by Martin Compston ('Sweet Sixteen', 'Sister' and 'Strippers vs Werewolves' - cant win em all) and as ever he really delivers.The film takes us back to Ferris' early days and the Glasgow of the 1970's when he was picked on by the Welshes for supporting the wrong team and as a result he claimed he developed debilitating psoriasis (in his book). His father tells him to be a lion and never a lamb and after being pushed too far he becomes just like them. Only a lot more violent. Thus begins his life of crime and violence.He gets sent to a detention centre and after a few more run ins at the age of just nineteen the local heavy Arthur Thompson ( locally called 'The Godfather') takes him on as an 'enforcer' and he takes to it like a duck to water, quite a lot of 'water' to be honest. Thompson is played by Patrick Bergin who always does great character roles and never really gets the recognition he deserves, still I digress. This then takes us on a spiral of violence that ultimately has to get out of control for all concerned.So is it any good? Well it depends on the knowledge of the viewer; as a film it is ruddy good but as a piece of fact based historical drama then there are many who say it about as accurate as that American film that found the enigma machine on a U Boat. The accents go from brilliant Glaswegian to a bit Edinburghish, which I am fine with and at least they are all Scottish. Portraying Ferris as a loving family man who was pushed into a life of crime is also a bit of a stretch, but that is following his book so it was always going to be a bit along the lines of 'I'm not a complete monster' as with the Krays brothers people always said 'they weren't all bad, they loved their mum'., well not much in the outstanding good will department, but it is a start. However I judged this as a film and I thought it was extremely good but not a keeper hence my rating but I wish Ray Burdis all the best in his next venture and it is good to see a film that