Today’s quick review: The Business. Frankie (Danny Dyer), a British layabout determined to make something of himself, heads to Spain to seek his fortune. There he meets Charlie (Tamer Hassan), a nightclub owner and British expat whose criminal exploits have netted him a small fortune. Together with Sammy (Geoff Bell), Charlie’s violent partner in crime, Frankie and Charlie enter the profitable world of drug smuggling and reach new heights of success.
The Business is a crime movie with a generic premise and mediocre execution. Though it aspires to the punchy style of the Guy Ritchie movies, The Business falls well short of its goal. Instead, weak writing, uncharismatic actors, and an aimless plot keep it from making a proper impact. Like other crime movies, The Business straddles the line between comedy and drama; though it offers little as either genre, it balances its tone well.
For all its weaknesses, The Business does show glimmers of potential. Nothing about the movie is outright bad so much as lackluster. The plot could work with a few additions to cover some of the events the movie glosses over. Danny Dyer’s sporadic narration is mishandled, but a few tweaks to the script would have made it a focal point of the movie. The soundtrack is actually an impressive selection of 80s hits that helps the movie a lot with setting its tone.
Watch The Business if you are looking for a midrate crime movie with an unusually good soundtrack. With better writing and sharper execution, The Business could have been a contender in the stylized, borderline comedic corner of the crime genre. As it is, The Business is badly outclassed by movies like Snatch, RocknRolla, Layer Cake, Blow, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, though it isn’t a bad watch in isolation.
6.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for passable execution with a number of flaws.