Customer Reviews

Played

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It's a story about a small time thief being fingered by the crooked cop who arranged the deal. He does the time and keeps his mouth shut. When he gets out, he ends up in LA to take care of business. Whoops, he has trusted the wrong people in his plans for revenge. I kept watching this movie hoping it would get better, it never did. As another reviewer already noted, the best bits were Val Kilmer on screen. Okay, so five minutes were great and rest was just there. For a caper movie, it had no real edge of your seat moments. With all the great actors (Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Bergin, etc.), I was expecting a great film but it never delivered. I recommend watching Circus or The Criminal for a great UK caper flick, not this one. Avoid it at all costs.

I wanted to like this one. Great cast. Love UK gangster flicks. Intrigued by the improv/lack of script but, ultimately was not moved by Mick Rossi. The big names are good but the story fizzles a bit. Still, it's an experiment worthy of watching for students of film.

The cast is quite good, and includes Gabriel Byrne, Vinnie Jones (Snatch), Anthony LaPaglia, Val Kilmer, Patsy Kensit, Bruno Kirby, and others, but even they can't save a movie that is poorly written and directed.
It felt quite formulaic, and is not in the same league as films like Snatch, Heist, Usual Suspects, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, etc.
Fortunately I saw it on TV and didn't spend any money on it. It wasn't so bad that I turned it off, but it's far from being a good movie. I finished watching since I did like some of the actors (if not always the acting).
The movie felt like a school project that could have been polished into a decent film.
Some movies are meant to be watched again and again (e.g., The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, etc.). In the case of Played, once is more than enough. 2-stars is a generous rating.

The question isn't why don't you review this film.

The real questions are: Who the bleep is Mick Rossi? And how bleep did he ending starring in four films? Because he absolutely sucks bollocks as a lead actor.

I'll tell you why.

My guess, and based on two suckfest flicks I've seen, because he paid for them.

Seriously. If you look at his IMDb Profile and/or do any kind of net search - you come up with nada.

I've met self-aborbed fools like this before. Too rich and too conceited to ever believe anything but their version of the truth, like: You're too old. You're not particularly memorable looking. And oh yeah, you can't act for bleep.

My own particular brand of pretentious braggart experience was a Wall Street guy who was convinced he knew how to run a club/restaurant which folded in less than 8 months - and only because he poured money into it the last six before realizing it died two weeks after the opening.

Does that stop them? Nope.

Now, typically these poseurs tend to serve their narcissism by being the "executive producer" - which allows them entré into Hollywood and the beautiful people; where he gets to shine his knob on some wannabe actresses. That would be typical.

But oh no, not Mr. Mick Rossi. No, he has to *star* in his movies. (cue The Gloria Swanson's closeup in 'Sunset Blvd')

This is why you never ever let the rich do anything 'cept pay for the damn film. Let them hang out with some babes, give them a posh seat with their name stenciled on the back, and let them lounge in a comfy trailer. But never ever let them talk you into starring in a film - not ever - for any amount of money.

This proves once and for all - you actually have to work your way to the top, even in the movies.

Just for laughs - notice how Amazon (and other movie services) list the "starring actors" for this and other Rossi productions. Do you see his name? (laughing) :-D

Independent productions don't get a pass just because they come in at ridiculously low budgets and actually make it to the screen, theatrical or otherwise. The script was interesting, but it has been done before. Actors need tu be engaged with their roles and the other actors in their scenes. Saying a performance is understated does not excuse being somewhere else. While the ending was unexpected, it still seemed a bit contrived. Frankly, the most interesting part appears in the behind-the-scenes narrative with Mick Rossi. Apparently, in the scene where his character is being driven to find medical attention by Val Kilmer's character, Kilmer neglected to turn off his cell phone. When it rang during the scene, the character found himself talking to his mother, to whom he had to explain why he was unable talk. In and of itself, this was actually a fairly humorous monologue. Of course, it became all the funnier when Rossi explained that the caller was, in fact, Kilmer's mother. He decided to leave the scene as it was filmed.

most of the shooting was done with different kinds of camera, and all sorts of style, not coherent is the main thing u feel about this film, with a great story that could have been done very well. it's a pity that it was on such a low budget and no experts were on the production team to correct all the screenplay. still worth seeing but at times you would press the fast forward a bit.

"Played" demonstrates what independent films do best, creating involving, character-driven tales on a budget that would make a television commercial! This crime drama, set in London and L.A., offers enough twists to keep viewers guessing, a cast of 'A-List' actors at the top of their game, and production values that bely the microscopic budget.

A heist gone wrong, set up by a crooked London cop (Vinnie Jones) and his fixer (Patrick Bergin), lands the small-time crook who led the thieves (Mick Rossi) in prison for eight years. Upon his release, he is recruited to fly to L.A. to track down and kill Bergin, by the gangster father (Roy Doltrice) of another member of Rossi's team (Trevor Nugent), who had been murdered. But there is far more going on than he realizes...

Working from a script outline (by Rossi and director Imran Ahktar), the dialog is frequently improvised, by an amazing array of talent, including Gabriel Byrne, Val Kilmer, Anthony LaPaglia, Joanne Whalley, Patsy Kensit, and Bruno Kirby (in his final film role). The result is an edginess and heightened sense of reality that a polished Hollywood script could never have achieved. As Rossi says, in the 'Making of' Special Feature, this was "guerrilla film making" in it's purest form, and it succeeds, extremely well.

Take a chance on this little gem; I think you'll be hooked!

From an initial viewing one might walk away from the Direct To Video release PLAYED wondering why a studio would pay for such a film... Well there in lies the answer, a studio didn't pay to make the film. Mick Rossi (from the 70's UK punk band SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS) wrote, directed and starred in this film and spent his own money to get the film made. With this little money Mick was still able to get some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Gabriel Byrne, Val Kilmer and Vinnie Jones to help him create his film.

Not only is that impressive, but as well the fact that 80% of the films dialogue is completely improvised adds a whole new layer of interest to this film.

Of course while the plot is nothing new, it is still great to see their are filmmakers willing to shoot their films without the support of some huge corporation that only cares about making money, not making good films!

BRAVO MR. ROSSI!!!! BRAVO!!!

I tried to like Played, but in the end I can't help feeling like *I* got played just by WATCHING it.

A supposed gangster movie that takes place in England, but it sure didn't feel like it. None of the characters were convincing in their aggression or ruthlessness, and the acting skills were some of the weakest performances you will ever see.

As far as suspense goes, yes, there was some of that. Not that it was enough to save the pitiful storytelling of course.

The camera angles were nice. I'll give the film a little credit for *that* at least. It really captured the rundown back streets where much of the film took place. Of course it was probably the low budget production that mainly contributed to the atmosphere, but at least there *was* an atmosphere.

Val Kilmer's character was a letdown. Usually he saves otherwise atrocious storylines, but not this time. His character wasn't enough to save a miserable storyline.

Played just didn't do enough to win me over. In fact it didn't even attempt to win me over. It just dragged on and on trying to tell a story, but it wasn't enough to save me from the eventual boredom. A stronger story was definitely needed. I recommend completely skipping this one.

I enjoyed the movie, but the plot some times fell apart. It's a nice movie to look at on a rainey day