When London bike courier Chris (Josh Whitehouse) witnesses a serious crime he flees the scene.You just know that Chris isnt about to have the best week of his life. This is one of the opening scenes for Alleycats, a British drama/thriller directed by Ian Bonhote and which is now available on DVD Bluray and Digital from Universal
From a story by Ian Bonhote and Max Kinnings.
Directed by Ian Bonhote
I knew nothing about the film before I started watching it. Well perhaps that’s not true. I knew the name of the director, I knew the films title, and I knew the film was currently on Digital and was due out on disc format at the end of August. But as for the plot and the cast. I knew nothing. That’s actually the way I prefer to watch films. To venture into them cold and see the story unfold before my eyes and through my ears. I’m not going to delve into the storyline too much but what I will say is that Alleycats is a great film.
If you are a fan of TV shows such as Skins or films akin to Kidulthood, Shifty, and other movies that feature an ensemble of fresh faced characters living their lives and pretty often getting into trouble, then Alleycats is for you. Even though the storyline of Alleycats is all tied up by the end credits. The characters in film would make a great television show. It worked for This Is England. I really do think it would work for Alleycats, but hey its easy for me to say that. Im just greedy for good content.
I love films like Alleycats, where over a feature length we get to know a whole set of new faces and watch the story unfold. But thats not so say there isnt something in Alleycats for those who aren’t a fan of ‘urban drama’ type movies. Alleycats to use perhaps an awful pun has a wonderful ‘cat n mouse’ plot running at its core with actor John Hannah doing a great job as Mr Yates, a man central to the plot of Alleycats Add to the er slightly older cast, John Lynch as ‘George’ and people of my age will almost certainly recognize them from shows and films we have sene over the years.
Whilst Alleycats is definitely its own film, it did give me a reminder of a couple of my favourite films. Paul WS Andersons Shopping, where young adults go about their lives, scraping together a living, trying to survive with no sign of a parental figure anywhere to be seen and the Mo Ali directed film Shank which although set in the future, does feature a young cast of characters living their lives in a somewhat bleak world.. So who are some of the faces of ‘Alleycats’. Well I did recognize a lot of them and the casting for this film is wonderful and a great who’s who of the British film and television world. Elearnor Tomlinson (The White Queen, Poldark),Sonoya Mizuno (Ex Machina), John Lynch (Ghosted) ,Joelle Koissi (The Contract), Hera Hilmar (Get Santa),Sam Keeley (What Richard Did), to name just a few of the great cast who make upi this motely crew of talent..
On doing a little research for the film (after I had watched it) I discovered that 565 wonderful backers helped put the finishing touches to this film with their donations at Kickstarter. Crowdfunding can work…and has helped Alleycats break out into the real world.
So folks. If you do fancy a really decent film to watch in your homes then I highly recommend Alleycats, great cast, great soundtrack and wonderfully put together by a great crew.
Many thanks to Ian Bonhote and the rest of the crew of Alleycats.
frompage2screen.com 