ESSEX BOYS

Directed by Terry Winsor. Starring Sean Bean, Alex Kingston, Charlie Creed-Miles

The 98,575,983rd Cockney-gangster thriller of the last year or two, Essex Boys could never be accused of excessive originality, but does at least treat its gratuitous-violence quotient with a deal more sensitivity than the last few flicks of this ilk.

Plot: a wide-eyed youngster (the pasty-faced Creed-Miles), seduced by the lure of easy lucre, allows himself to be progressively sucked into an underworld gang of drug-dealing psychopaths, a thoroughly

unpleasant bunch who

routinely fling punters out of

second-storey windows to

splattering deaths.

They're led by Sean Bean in

spectacularly unappealing form, as a horrible Teddy Sheringham lookalike who bashes his missus around (ER's Alex Kingston in spiky, steel-balled form), has just been released from jail, and recruits the impressionable Billy as a chauffeur for his score-settling exploits. In no time, the latter has twigged that he's in way over his head, but it's too late to turn his back...

In spite of its cheapskate made-for-telly atmosphere, with extremely drab lighting and backgrounds to match, Essex Boys manages to whip up a fair degree of dramatic momentum as it spins on its way.

The unfeasibly overwrought finale shamelessly rips off elements from a million film-noir classics, but there are enough twists and turns to keep the viewer involved if not riveted.

Though far from essential, Essex Boys may be worth your while if you need to take shelter from a thunderstorm.