David Farnor | On 24, Sep 2016

Director: Amar Adatia, Peter Peralta
Cast: Richard Blackwood, Liz McClarnon, Jodie Marsh, Amar Adatia, Ayden Callaghan, Dave Courtney, Rahul Kolhi
Certificate: 15
Watch Gangsters, Gamblers and Geezers online in the UK: Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / TalkTalk TV / Virgin Movies / TalkTalk Player / eir Vision Movies / Google Play

VOD is a wonderful thing, giving untapped talent a chance to shine and hidden gems to opportunity to reach a wide audience. Gangsters, Gamblers and Geezers is not one of those films.

The film, directed by Amar Adatia and Peter Peralta, stars the duo as Krish and Lee, two losers who get sacked from their jobs in a call centre and, given 48 hours to pay up the rent they owe to their landlord, find themselves caught between warring gangsters, terrorists and the police. What ensues is a farce that recalls Run For Your Wife, a stoner comedy that dreams of being Harold and Kumar and a crime caper that owes a debt to Guy Ritchie in the worst possible way.

Adatia and Peralta have a decent chemistry between them, but neither of their characters are particularly likeable or, more importantly, funny, as they blunder from one laboured scenario to the next. They are surrounded by a sadly inept supporting cast, with some conversations clearly intended to offer up hysterical banter so poorly performed that they’re cringe-inducingly awkward.

It doesn’t help that the script trades almost wholly in lazy stereotypes, with characters attempting to be gross, even ironically so, mostly winding up as offensive – we meet a duo called “Ping” and “Pong”, are treated a parade of casually racist words such as “Paki” and, in one dire moment, are asked to laugh at cross-dressing dwarves. Throughout, the women are eye candy and Richard Blackwood fails to make an impression as their over-the-top, violent landlord.

Its occasionally amateur production values could be forgiven, if enough laughs were in the air, but they unfortunately never materialise. Stretching out for over 100 minutes, it would be a pleasure to say that Gangsters, Gamblers and Geezers is the next big British indie hit – but it’s just one big disappointment.

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