Hard Boiled Sweets

Hard Boiled Sweets is a 2012 British crime drama film written and directed by David L.G. Hughes. It tells the story of a group of squabbling Essex gangsters. The cast includes two actors (Paul Freeman and Ian Hart) that had appeared in Hughes' earlier short film A Girl and a Gun from which this, his first feature, was developed.[2]

This article is about the British film. For the confectionery item, see Boiled sweets.

Hard Boiled Sweets
Directed byDavid L.G. Hughes[1]
Produced byLara Greenway
Demelza Jones
David L.G. Hughes
Written byDavid L.G. Hughes
StarringAdrian Bower
Philip Barantini
Elizabeth Berrington
Music byTom Morrison[2]
CinematographySara Deane[2]
Edited byLloyd George[2]
Production
company
Fatal Black
Release date
9 March 2012
Running time
84 minutes[1]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$6,462

Plot

London crime boss Jimmy the Gent travels to Southend in Essex to collect some monies owed to him by local gangster Shrewd Eddie. There, various assorted gangsters, corrupt police and petty criminals attempt to steal from Jimmy a case containing £1 million in cash.

Main cast
ActorRole
Philip BarantiniDean
Elizabeth BerringtonJackie
Adrian BowerGerry
Liz May BriceJenna
Paul FreemanShrewd Eddie
Ty GlaserPorsche
Ian HartJoyce
Nathaniel Martello-WhiteJermaine
Danny SapaniLeroy
Peter WightJimmy the Gent
Scot WilliamsJohnny
René ZaggerFred

Critical reception

The film was largely negatively received by reviewers. The Guardian's Henry Barnes described it as a glossy hybrid of American noir and British gangster films "with nothing under the wrapper".[3] Tom Seymour of Empire summed it up as "A miserable mess of gangland cliches and narrative tangle".[4] Tom Huddleston of Time Out also found it clichéd – "more Cockernee crime by numbers" – but also suggested that it had "a fistful of decent throwaway gags and enough plot surprises to just about carry it through the rough patches".[5] ScreenDaily praised its technical aspects including Anders Bundgaard's opening credit sequence and Sara Deane's cinematography, describing it overall as "an intriguing debut".[2]

Box office

The film received a limited release and according to Box Office Mojo took only $6,462 in two weeks in cinemas.[6] It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 30 April 2012.

References
  1. "Hard Boiled Sweets | Film". London: The Guardian. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  2. Adams, Mark (8 March 2012). "Hard Boiled Sweets | Review | Screen". Screendaily.com. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  3. Henry Barnes (8 March 2012). "Hard Boiled Sweets – review | Film". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  4. "Empire's Hard Boiled Sweets Movie Review". Empireonline.com. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  5. Tom Huddleston. "Hard Boiled Sweets | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie release date | Time Out London". Timeout.com. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  6. "Hard Boiled Sweets". Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
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