Welcome to the Punch

Welcome to the Punch, the second film from director and writer Eran Creevy is a taut and intelligent crime drama that entertains from start to finish. It's beautiful to look at, the acting is superb, and the story telling was well crafted. Because of all that, I give Punch four buckets of Killer Korn.




When I saw the trailer for this movie, I was instantly intrigued. Mainly because it starred two men of whom I am a huge fan of, Mark Strong who plays master criminal Jacob Sternwood and James McAvoy who plays rogue cop Max Lewinsky. They weren't the only reason though, when I saw this movies executive producer was Ridley Scott, there was no way I was missing this film because of course I am just as big a fan of Ridley's as I am of Mark and James. Welcome to the Punch is a glossy, gritty crime drama much in the way Michael Mann's Heat was which starred Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. In fact, you could almost imagine Punch being a kind of sequel, the kind of sequel had De Niro's character lived of course. It has the makings of that kind of film right from the beginning.

Jacob and his team are robbing a bank, in fact they are walking out of it with bags of what one would assume is money. Max is on a roof somewhere sitting on top of a reluctant informant who just revealed what was going down. Max calls it in and then high tails it to the bank. Jacob and team get on motorcycles and tear out while Max is ordered to stand down and wait for back up, an order he of course ignores. He gives chase on foot when his car runs out of room, finds a short cut through the labyrinth of tunnels, picks up a pipe and smacks one of the riders off his bike. A fight ensues which ends with Max getting shot by Jacob which sends Max down a road of hatred and bitterness. Jacob and his team escapes and Jacob is never seen in London again.

Flash forward three years and Jacob's son Ruan Sternwood, played by Elyes Gabel is shot and wounded, his partner murdered which makes the front page. Ruan is trying to leave town but the gunshot wound would have killed him in flight so he abandons the plane and collapses on the tarmac. The last person Ruan called was his father who then heads to London and his wounded son. Meanwhile, Max and his partner Sarah Hawkes, played smartly by Andrea Riseborough are looking into the murder of Ruan's partner while Jacob is reunited with old friend played by the extremely talented Peter Mullan. The two teams begin an investigation that leads them to one man, Dean Warns played by the equally talented Johnny Harris.

This is a great cast for someone's second film, but make no mistake, this film crackles. Everything about the film from the performances, the visuals, to the story (though it could have been tighter in some spots) makes this film cook. It was a pleasure to have this kind of film make me sit on the edge of my seat again. The crime drama has recently been treated like the stepchild of the movie industry, especially when it comes to England. Everyone there seems hell bent on trying to either become the next Guy Ritchie or at the very least out do him. Thankfully, there was no Guy Ritchie-ness to this movie. That's not a knock on Guy, I love his stuff but too much of a good thing, especially in the hands of those far less talented, is a bad thing.

The score, by Harry Escott is perfect, simply perfect for the look and feel of this movie. It's sparse, tight, and doesn't get in the way. It's just enough in the background that it's both easy and hard to ignore, the way a score is supposed to be. Welcome to the Punch is a wonderful film about reluctant relationships and how fragile life can be. I highly recommend it and I assure you, you will not be wasting either your time or your money. I'll see you at the theater!