Main Cast: Sadie Frost, Jude Law, Sean Pertwee, Jonathan Pryce, Sean Bean, Marianne Faithfull
Release Year: 1994
Country: UK
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Though not as successful as Trainspotting (1996) or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), this high-energy, kinetic crime thriller belongs in the same British New Wave category as those later films. In a decaying British city of the near future, Billy (Jude Law) is an ex-con adrenaline junkie dating a Belfast native, the thrill-seeking Jo (Sadie Frost). Billy and Jo are the leaders of a teen gang of "ram-raiders," car thieves who jack an automobile, ram the vehicle through the front of a store, and steal whatever booty they can carry before the authorities arrive. A typical ram raid ends up in a high-speed pursuit by the police, which is all a part of the game for Billy, Jo, and their followers. However, a local drug lord, Tommy (Sean Pertwee) doesn't like the teen crooks infringing on his business. His opposition to their scheming leads to a deadly car race that plays out like a game of post-modern "chicken." Following the release of Shopping (1994), writer-director Paul Anderson went in a different direction than contemporaries Guy Ritchie and Danny Boyle, opting to create slick Hollywood science fiction films such as Mortal Kombat (1995), Event Horizon (1996), and Soldier (1998). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Leon Black - Kid; Brian Croucher - Billy's Dad; Jason Isaacs - Market Trader; Sarah Phillips - Reporter; Tilly Vosburgh - Mrs Taylor; Lee Whitlock - Pony; Philip Bagenal - String Quartet; Sidney Cole - Policeman; Chris Armstrong - Policeman
Credit
Alan J. Wands - First Assistant Director, Simon Moseley - First Assistant Director, Paul W.S. Anderson - Director, David Stiven - Editor, Barrington Pheloung - Composer (Music Score), Tony Imi - Cinematographer, Laurie Borg - Producer, Paul W.S. Anderson - Screen Story
"The feature debut of Brit stylist Paul Anderson (Event Horizon) is a sleek film of misty alleys, blue-lit underground garages, and slick city streets. It's a dystopian London of the near future through the lens of Blade Runner driven almost single-handedly by Law's reckless charm and wild energy. It's hard to tell if the film is about the nihilism of sensation-hunting lost youth or simply a sensational melodrama of aimless rebellion, but there's nonetheless something irresponsibly appealing in Billy's anti-establishment rampage."[1]
"When I read on some poster somewhere that SHOPPING was "The CLOCKWORK ORANGE of the Nineties" I thought that this was a rather naff cliche and doubted that the film would live up to this statement. I was not expecting to see such an explosive and awesome film. ... The film is certainly one for one-liners and memorable quotes. Some of the language, however, was too much for some of the audience, and when a policeman gets a full whack in the face with a baseball bat there was a shuffling of feet as some of the audience left. The film never promotes violence, but it does explain why violence occurs. Had these people stayed until the end of the film they would have seen a masterpiece."[2]
"Anderson indulges in cinematic pilfering, borrowing from Blade Runner and Gotham City to build his vision of a country divided. While a lack of subtlety clouds his intentions, the director delivers a slick, diverting story that will probably be best remembered as Jude Law's first movie. Honing the glamour and presence that would define his career, the actor is the moral and visual centre of the film, compensating for the excesses of plot which the budget can never realize."[3]
