Known for his successful screenplays (The American, 28 Weeks Later), Rowan Joffe’s directorial debut is a notably odd project. Choosing to adapt Graham Greene’s 1939 novel, Joffe immediately sets himself up for comparison with the beloved 1949 adaptation starring Richard Harris – something that was never going to bounce in his favour.
Pinkie (an extremely menacing Sam Riley) is a small-town hoodlum whose gang run a protection racket at Brighton racecourse. When naïve waitress Rose (Andrea Riseborough) becomes the key witness in one of the murders he commits, Pinkie decides to court her in an attempt to earn her love – and her silence. But with his gang beginning to doubt his ability, rivals taking over his business and Rose’s moxie-filled boss (Helen Mirren) asking questions, Pinkie starts to become more desperate – and more violent. As his treatment of Rose becomes increasingly vicious, she becomes more dependent and eager to win his affections, leading to a fascinating if underdeveloped examination of the dangerous and intoxicating nature of first love.
With the action shifted from the late 1930s to the 1960s, great pains are taken to evoke the era, through the use of vintage lenses, gritty shots and immaculate period detail. However, references to mods and rockers notwithsdtanding, this update feels essentially redundant. Original is best.