William Monahan
London Boulevard

Oscar Winner in 2007 for Best Adapted Screenplay ("The Departed" by Martin Scorsese). Collaborations with Ridley Scott for the screenplays of "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Body of Lies": this is William Monahan, a U.S. screenwriter who two years ago decided to also venture into directing his first film, with the plot and direction in his hands.

The feature film in question is "London Boulevard," based on the novel of the same name by Ken Bruen. A somewhat stereotypical but interesting story: Mitchel (Colin Farrell) gets out of prison and tries to stay away from the pervasive crime that got him imprisoned. But once back to normal, the world he tries to leave behind is inevitably part of him and manifests itself with Gant (Ray Winstone), an elegant and violent boss. The only novelty is represented by the mysterious Charlotte (Keira Knightley), a famous showbiz woman hounded by tabloids, whom Mitchel becomes bodyguard and lover of.

As in the most classic gangster movies, Monahan's film has a complex plot, which only step by step reaches its final climax. A movie that draws heavily from some past works, particularly from the aforementioned "The Departed," on which Monahan himself worked. Here lies the main reason for the disdain shown by some towards this title: being a déjà vu work that recycles without offering anything new. A true statement, largely also understandable but one that does not take into account two fundamental factors. The first lies in the very nature of the genre: unless the coming years present us with some title able to revolutionize and reinvent the gangster/thriller genre, it will be difficult for upcoming films to detach from the great masterpieces of the '70s. The second factor is the enjoyability of Monahan's work and its characteristic that makes it particularly interesting: a continuous intertwining of story, visual sophistication, and music that recalls another work of the "modern gangster" from recent years, namely Matthew Vaughn's "The Pusher." Worth noting is the collaboration of Sergio Pizzorno, singer and guitarist of Kasabian, here dealing with the soundtrack.

"London Boulevard" is a film with a modern cut, attempting to create its own structure, capable of entwining gangster, thriller, metropolitan drama, and a love story made more of glances and unspoken things than of sickly sweet romance for its own sake. Over this varied and well-realized "ensemble," stands a nocturnal, dark London, filled with lights, shadows, and silences.

A film that has passed somewhat under the radar, possessing a weak point in its excessive reliance on already seen characters, but at the same time has the ability to make these personalities well-integrated into a world with distorted edges. It deserves a chance.