Matthew Vaughn
The Pusher

An unnamed man works within the London drug trade, a loyal friend to one of the most powerful bosses in the English capital. This man has now decided to leave the game: the last call from his "master" catches him by surprise. He must take care of two small jobs and then he can enjoy everything he's always wanted. However, these two final tasks will put him in severe difficulty...

"The Pusher" is a UK title released in 2004 and marked Matthew Vaughn, here in his first feature film after having worked as a producer on several other English films including Lock & Stock and Snatch. A film that takes the genre cut from the two titles mentioned above but develops its substance, mainly thanks to Vaughn's excellent skills. While the basic story seems like that of the usual gangster, the unfolding of events becomes increasingly intricate to the point of becoming even too complex. We are not, therefore, facing the usual gangster movie where every single incident is resolved with a gun, but the film's development follows various layers that become entangled in the multiple events that the director presents to us.

We then have shootouts, more subdued moments, thrilling parts, and also the crisis of the protagonist, the "nameless" Daniel Craig, who plays his role quite well. Indeed, his character, after a series of difficulties, begins to look over his shoulder even at those he believed were friends, in a rollercoaster of emotions. Vaughn, besides creating a film in which he incorporated all of this, primarily brought to life a work that is both entertaining and tense, representing (once again) the rise and fall of a man in an attempt to improve his life circumstances. A man who wanted nothing more than to rest, to demolish the "criminal" label he carried all his life.

A note of merit should be given to a good cast, a decent pace, but above all, to the remarkable cinematography by Ben Davis, which effectively highlights the strong color tones and provides the settings with a sense of modernity that fits perfectly into the film's atmosphere, as well as into the representation of London that emerges.

"The Pusher" is therefore a film that deserves attention, even if it reintroduces some typical themes of the genre, albeit remixed into a new and captivating atmosphere and manner. Enjoy the movie.