"The Hard Case" is a British live action short film from 1995, so this one here is almost 30 years old now or probably over 30 already once you get here to read this review of mine. This is from the days of VHS still, so it is surely not too easy to get a hand on a copy, especially one that is not missing parts of the audio, but I can imagine that hardcore fans of Guy Ritchie must be really curious about this one here. I am not one of those, but I still wanted to give it a go and succeeded. Overall, I think this was approximately what I expected, maybe even a bit better than I initially thought because Ritchie was only in his mid20s at that point and it was his very first directorial effort according to imdb and he also was not yet married to Madonna in 1995. There is not too much to say about the cast. Not a single big name included here, but a pretty long list for a film that barely makes it past the 20-minute mark. First credit went to Darren Spencer who apparently never acted in a film before or after this one. It is a bit surprising because he was still pretty young here. Reminded me a bit of Cillian Murphy in terms of looks and it is a role that also would have suited Matthew McConaughey for example. Just came to my mind because he also played the protagonist in a Guy Ritchie movie not too long ago. The cast here is British/English, however, for obvious reasons. You don't import people from the other end of the planet for your first film at a young age.
Some say that Ritchie is a bit of a poor man's Tarantino, but I would not disagree with that, especially because what Tarantino did later in his career was totally different and far away from the concept of action crime that Ritchie has included in his films so many times. This is not a negative statement by any means from my side. I like how it is not difficult at all to identify Ritchie's style in this short film already compared to what he does in the 21st century, especially now that he is twice as old as he was back then. The elements of crime, money and use music are just typical Ritchie style and the how fast things are moving forward is as well. Even the camera work was pretty fast back then already and even if you do not know the actors here, unless you are related to them, they do look like people you would expect to show up in later Ritchie movies. Some even did if you look at James Tarbuck (not Starbuck), who got second credit. He acted in a Ritchie full feature film a little later and that was it for him as well. Or same can also be said about the beautiful Suzy Ratner here. Actually, the same movie like for Tarbuck. And a character nicknamed Bacon is also exactly what I would expect from Ritchie. Just like a dwarf making sure that there's no firearms on the casino visitors. Or there was a shot I think when we were literally in the footsteps of the protagonist(s) as we see the Black guy tell him/them/us that he/they/we will not be allowed in without opening the suitcase and have them look inside.
The scene at this casino-like institution that probably included much more crime than casinos usually do, or rather let's say much more physical crime, was the center of the film. It was enjoyable and interesting to watch and the escalation was just around the corner waiting to happen. In the end, there is a bit of a feel-good moment if we cheered for the protagonists. Nice little twist. This film was almost too much already for 21 minutes. I am sure It could have worked as a full feature film too, but you gotta start somewhere. This also applied to Guy Ritchie. This is almost all then. Finally, I want to say thanks for reminding me of a pretty cool song by The Flying Lizards that was used in the middle of the film and is not only a catchy tune, but fit the scenario where it got used nicely as well. I liked it more than the song used later during a maybe even more crucial scene. My thoughts that this film would not get a positive recommendation from me vanished fast enough and in the end the thumbs-up was never in doubt. It's a good film and if we take Ritchie's young age back then into account, he hardly could have started any better. Go watch it if you manage to find a good copy perhaps on British television.
Some say that Ritchie is a bit of a poor man's Tarantino, but I would not disagree with that, especially because what Tarantino did later in his career was totally different and far away from the concept of action crime that Ritchie has included in his films so many times. This is not a negative statement by any means from my side. I like how it is not difficult at all to identify Ritchie's style in this short film already compared to what he does in the 21st century, especially now that he is twice as old as he was back then. The elements of crime, money and use music are just typical Ritchie style and the how fast things are moving forward is as well. Even the camera work was pretty fast back then already and even if you do not know the actors here, unless you are related to them, they do look like people you would expect to show up in later Ritchie movies. Some even did if you look at James Tarbuck (not Starbuck), who got second credit. He acted in a Ritchie full feature film a little later and that was it for him as well. Or same can also be said about the beautiful Suzy Ratner here. Actually, the same movie like for Tarbuck. And a character nicknamed Bacon is also exactly what I would expect from Ritchie. Just like a dwarf making sure that there's no firearms on the casino visitors. Or there was a shot I think when we were literally in the footsteps of the protagonist(s) as we see the Black guy tell him/them/us that he/they/we will not be allowed in without opening the suitcase and have them look inside.
The scene at this casino-like institution that probably included much more crime than casinos usually do, or rather let's say much more physical crime, was the center of the film. It was enjoyable and interesting to watch and the escalation was just around the corner waiting to happen. In the end, there is a bit of a feel-good moment if we cheered for the protagonists. Nice little twist. This film was almost too much already for 21 minutes. I am sure It could have worked as a full feature film too, but you gotta start somewhere. This also applied to Guy Ritchie. This is almost all then. Finally, I want to say thanks for reminding me of a pretty cool song by The Flying Lizards that was used in the middle of the film and is not only a catchy tune, but fit the scenario where it got used nicely as well. I liked it more than the song used later during a maybe even more crucial scene. My thoughts that this film would not get a positive recommendation from me vanished fast enough and in the end the thumbs-up was never in doubt. It's a good film and if we take Ritchie's young age back then into account, he hardly could have started any better. Go watch it if you manage to find a good copy perhaps on British television.
