So much average

Pretty Good

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This musical is based on the National Theatre stage production which is based on actual events that took place in London Road Ipswich.In 2006, London Road had a problem with prostitutes who had moved into their street. Not only were the working girls touting for business but they were having sex in view of the residents. Then five of the women's bodies were found and one of their neighbours was charged and convicted of the offence. This is the story of the residents' thoughts and feelings during the incident and their attempt to recover from the stigmatism which was caused.Musicals aren't my favourite type of movie though I did like the classics. Though the music and songs are more contemporary in this film. Unfortunately, it's that same music and songs that injure the film. I liked the idea of the songs encompassing and including the tenants' actual comments, however, there just isn't enough of them and the lyrics end up being repeated too much. This repetition is very annoying and nearly had me turning it off a couple of times. It would have been nice if Adam Cork, who composed the music, had spread his wings a little more as most of the songs are very similar and add to the monotonous feel.Luckily the filming by director Rufus Norris is interesting and well crafted to suit the music and songs, as well as the narrative when you have the residents speaking. It's also these acting sequences that hold the film together as the are very well skilled at their craft. It's these elements and not the musical ones that make you relate to the characters and understand just what they were going through.If it hadn't been a musical then I believe this would have been a much greater film.If you like contemporary musicals this may be for you. If you're thinking about watching this for members of the cast - Olivia Coleman or Tom Hardy, be aware that they are not in this film for long. In fact, none of the cast is, and I like the movie more because of this. Each actors playing the residents appear to have the same screen time. Though, if you're a studying filmmaker or you're just interested in well-made and shot movies then I'd recommend this for you.

I decided to watch this as I knew about the story and thought it would be a drama about it. I must have totally missed the 'musical' genre, which I have to say is a bit random, covering this terrible occurrence.To be fair, there isn't much about the murders its mostly about the community and how they were affected by them and as a result they came together to create a better area. The singing is a bit rubbish to say the least, however, having Olivia Coleman and Tom Hardy in the cast is a positive (sorry Olivia, singing isn't your strong point)

If you've already seen this film, or rather, experimental remake of the musical, you will understand the summary line.....The film documents the events of 2006, when the town of Ipswich was shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women. The residents of the titular Road had struggled for years with frequent soliciting and kerb- crawling on their street. When a local resident was charged and then convicted of the murders, the community grappled with what it meant to be at the centre of this tragedy......Many have said that this film is a sick and twisted film, glamorising and turning murders into a musical. I say, see the film again, and you will see that no murders, no victims, or the murderer, are depicted in the film.The film isn't about murder or murdering (some of singing is murderous on the ears though), it's about being part of a community, and coming together as said community at a time of distress, stress, and fear, and how different members deal with the situation.I couldn't possibly comment on the musical, as I haven't seen it, but the cinema isn't the best medium for the story if the community, and at times it feels like a musical version of those creature comfort adverts merged with that Peter Sutcliffe musical skit Chris Morris did on Brasseye.The cast are fine. Olivia Coleman is always fantastic to watch in anything, and the original cast of the musical are okay, but they look and feel uncomfortable not performing in front of an audience. And Tom Hardy pops up as a sinister sounding taxi driver AKA a red herring.It's a shame that it's not as rewarding as it's intending to be, but that's the gamble when your making experimental cinema. It's definitely worth seeing, you may find it to be one of the best musicals ever made. But at times the film kept sending me back to Burtons Sweeney Todd.......which in my opinion is the best musical ever made.But it never glamorises murder, so the people who say this is sick and twisted are wrong, and need to look further into a film when watching it. Think outside the box......

Review: This movie would have been 100 times better if it wasn't for the annoying singing. This storyline really needs to be told properly because it shows how a community can pull together after such an awful ordeal. Anyway, the film/musical is based on London Road in Ipswich were prostitutes are hanging around on the streets and spoiling the moral in the community. In 2006 the bodies of five of the prostitutes were found in the area which disrupted all of the London Road community and everyone was paranoid about who could be the serial killer. With the media and police officers camping out on the Street, the community struggled to get on with there day to day life's and when they finally find the culprit, everyone was on tender hooks to wait for the verdict. The community then come together to make there Road a nice place to live, by planting pretty flowers and fixing up there gardens. They also come together in the village hall to discuss community matters and have fun days like bingo with fish and chips. When Steve Wright, the accused, is finally sentenced to life, everyone is finally able to put the whole matter behind them but some of them were still scarred by the whole ordeal. I personally was interested in this movie because I know people who live near that area but I was really disappointed with the outcome. I know the play is very successful but from a film prospective, they really needed to cut the singing out. I liked the fact that they used the true words of people that they interviewed through that period and they even got the pronunciation correct, which I heard after listening to the interviews at the end of the movie but I don't understand why they had to sing the words. It made the situation seem more like a comedy than an intense time for the community who had a serial killer on the loose. I also didn't understand why they only put Tom Hardy in two scenes which were completely irrelevant to the whole film. Anyway, it's an uplifting movie which proves that a community pulling together can really change people's life's but the singing really got on my nerves. Average!Round-Up: Although this film is about a serial killer, you never see any footage of Steve Wright or get an explanation on why he committed the murders, which is a shame. The only person that I really recognised in the whole film was, of course, Tom Hardy, who was only in a couple of scenes and Olivia Colman, 41, who became a household name, here in the UK, after the popular Broadchurch series. She has starred in a few movies like Confetti, Hot Fuzz, I Could Never Be Your Woman with Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd, Grow Your Own, Tyrannosaur, the Iron Lady, Hyde Park on Hudson with Bill Murray, I Give It A Year, Cuban Fury and Locke with Tom Hardy but she's mostly known for her appearances any many TV series. She has a movie called the Lobster coming out soon with Colin Farrell and she has won 3 BAFTA's out of her 5 nominations so she must be happy with her career so far. This film was directed by Rufus Norris who also brought you the great Broken with Tim Roth. I personally think that he was trying to keep as close as possible to the National Theatre hit which has sold out two times running but for entertainment on the big screen, I really just wanted to see the core of the movie without the terrible singing with repetitive lines. Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $216,000I recommend this movie to people who are into their adventure/musical/adventure about a community in Ipswich who bring there road back to a livable standard after 5 prostitutes turn up dead in the area. 3/10