The Rise & Fall of a White Collar Hooligan

white collar

Review: I was really expecting this movie to be about football violence, but it turned out to be about credit card fraud, which was a bit strange. The acting wasn't the best but the storyline wasn't too bad. I liked the chemistry between the 2 main characters, but it was boring in parts. In all, the movie was pretty average and totally nothing to so with football. Round-Up: I wasn't impressed with Nick Nervern's acting in G.B.H. and I personally think that the film would have been much better if they would have chosen a different leading actor. Simon Phillips, who plays his partner in crime, played his part well, but it still has that East End feel with all of the swearing and crime. I hope that the sequel brings more substance and originality. Budget: $1million Worldwide Gross: N/A I recommend this movie to people who like there English crime movies with a touch of violence. 3/10

Mike Jacobs (Nick Nevern) has fallen on hard times. His friend Eddie (Simon Philips) offers him a job as a driver. He reluctantly accepts and wants to be sure he is not running drugs. As it turns out he is part of a credit card ring that steals information, manufactures cards, then uses the ATM machine to extract cash. They are stealing from banks. The story includes Mike's girlfriend (Rita Ramnani), his love for football, and the involvement of law enforcement because guys putting cards into ATMs, taking out cash, and trying not to get caught doesn't even pass for entertainment on U-Tube. The film claims it is based on a true story. This is a crime drama light on action but can still hold your interest. 3 1/2 stars. PARENTAL GUIDE: F-bomb, sex, no nudity.

When unemployed soccer hooligan Mike Jacobs encounters an old friend during a bloody pre-match brawl, he finds the answer to his problems . But its a job involving credit card fraud. Before long, the fast paced world of easy money and beautiful women descends into a violent struggle for survival... If you are expecting anything subtle, or classy, look at the title again. It explains what the content of the film will be, but surprisingly, football has very little to do with the actual narrative. Yes, there are a couple of football matches that take place in the film, and the head honcho was ex-firm, but the film centres around a bloke who's voice sounds like he'd make a good narrator for a 'Britains Toughest....' DVD, and the japes his mates get up to. If your used to Danny Dyer movies, various films about Essex Boys, and just typical Brit movies with lots of Effin and Jeffin in, you've come to the right place. It tries to be something clever, something different, but comes full circle to the curse of Lock, Stock. Always trying to better that blueprint. Its watchable guff though, and it looks good, but you've seen it so many times before, you'll feel like you've already seen it....

Ike Jacobs (Nick Nevern) has fallen on hard times. His friend Eddie (Simon Philips) offers him a job as a driver. He reluctantly accepts and wants to be sure he is not running drugs. As it turns out he is part of a credit card ring that steals information, manufactures cards, then uses the ATM machine to extract cash. They are stealing from banks. The story includes Mike's girlfriend (Rita Ramnani), his love for football, and the involvement of law enforcement because guys putting cards into ATMs, taking out cash, and trying not to get caught doesn't even pass for entertainment on U-Tube. The film claims it is based on a true story. This is a crime drama light on action but can still hold your interest. 3 1/2 stars.

Since i have slagged off Press on Features considerably in my previous reviews, i feel i should make it clear for clarity's sake that not all of their output has been drab and vanilla waste as i've hinted at previously. Look no further than at what i guess what you could call their most iconic release, a Poundland staple, Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan. Released at a time when both the gangland and Hooligan genres were in decline, this film combined the two, cleverly, admittedly, as a way to pick up the scraps of niche interest left over from the early 2000's. The result was an exploitation (and not the last one) of a true life account of a credit card fraudster with an "oh so indeed" frustratingly misleading title slapped on and the new wave of low budget Brit crime cinema crashed into our supermarkets. The Hooligangster film had arrived and has not left since. So, enough history, how's the film itself? Not bad. The quintessential low budget DV-era crime film. It has a clear idea of what it is and rarely bandies about with bringing the goods, all budgetary restrictions considered. Nick Nevern serves well as the small fish, big pond hood and is additionally served well by a good supporting turn by Simon Phillips and a well-balanced script that never struggles for politicisation and instead settles with sympathy for our protagonists. The clue is in the title. They are just atypical white collar guys, like the intended audience, who happen to embark on this underworld odyssey. There is really not a bad turn in this by anyone in this really. Unadventurous or safe yes, but never disastrous or insipid. It's a story that keeps your interest despite lacking the bombast of the more notable entries it apes consistently throughout the running time. Is it the best of it's kind? Maybe. Taking into consideration that it spawned a trilogy of steady quality, it's hard to argue anything of it's kind matches it in success. But with the increasingly ambitious (and enjoyable) works of the likes of Nicholas Winter and Terry Lee Coker upcoming, it might be only a matter of time before a new style establishes itself and closes over this fine ride of austerity era gangster fantasy.

THE RISE AND FALL OF A WHITE COLLAR HOOLIGAN is an odd attempt to mix two popular straight-to-DVD sub-genres: the London gangster flick and the London football hooligan flick. The resultant film is an entire mess of a production, with little discernible story, more clichés than you can shake a stick at, and an almost entire lack of coherence. The narrative involves a thuggish football hooligan type - a knuckle-dragger with zero charisma and yes, he's the protagonist - who finds himself involved in a new job as a courier, delivering computer technology around the city. His boss is played by Simon Phillips, who still hasn't got any more charisma than he had in JACK FALLS. Everyone's favourite Cockney stereotype Billy Murray appears in support as some kind of crime kingpin. The story is a never-ending mess of random street fights and violence mixed out with some excruciating melodrama involving various love interests. There's a trip to France and a spell in prison, and a twist ending of sorts, but it's all completely horrible, of course, and almost entirely without merit.

This is definately a crime movie, far away from hooliganism as we know it, its about scams,leaking your and mine accounts, snitching,high flying lifestyle, a little bit of beating, a narrow story told by the main carachter, its main stream english ganglionism, made a bit more eatable for the layman,and for sure will dissapoint the squemish high violent brittish gangster movie fan. lots of bad language there is but thats also the most offensive in this flick. its like a hard boiled fist fighting,can throwing hooligan...... toothless.

Budget must have been a thousand quid and that Includes all the wages If you choose to watch it don't say I didn't warn you. Worst acting I have ever seen beyond teletubbies.

I couldn't resist this as I watch most of the 'geezer' movies that come out. Firstly the title is very confusing. The main character isn't white collar, and his hooligan activities are limited to a short montage in the opening 5 minutes. What it's really about is an unemployed thug joining a credit card cloning racket and rising through the ranks before the inevitable crash. The story more or less follows the trajectory of 'Goodfellas' but obviously no where near as slick of well written. Some of the dialogue is straight out of the 'Football Factory' book and gets far to close to the embarrassment of Danny Dyer's forced tones. The music is also woeful and inappropriate. That said, the credit card scam sections are quite entertaining in a limited beer & curry night kind of way. In closing, I don't know what you would expect from a film entitled 'Fall and Rise of a White Collar Hooligan' but what you get is a flawed low budget crime drama with some limited interesting parts. 5/10