1 Day (15)

Verdict: Well nang (that's cool to you) ***

By Robbie Collin

SOME films only get made because they're boring, unoriginal fluff that are guaranteed to turn a profit.

1 Day is not one of those films.

Shot on the streets of Birmingham with young, untested local talent on both sides of the lens, 1 Day is Britain's first "hip hop musical". It tells the story of a day in the life of local hoodlum Flash (Dylan Duffus).

When his boss Angel (Yohance Watson) is released early from prison, Flash has to come up with £100,000 in 24 hours - so goes on a mad spree of crack dealing, violence and robbery. Surprisingly, this is almost exactly the same plot as that recent Danny Dyer/50 Cent film Rio Ferdinand produced. Unsurprisingly, it's a million times better.

The story's straightforward and the dialogue will fox anyone who isn't familiar with street slang. But the performances are quality and the rapping, written and performed by the cast, is SUPERB - if anything, the film could have done with a lot more of it.

If there's a serious gripe, it's that the rough-and-ready bluntness of the pic will be off-putting to a lot of viewers.

Plus, there's next to no subtlety. Dealers deal, babymammas bitch. And that's about it.

But 1 Day is raw, gripping drama with a powerful message and a great soundtrack.

In short, it's High School Musical on crack. Literally.

MovieTime - Robbie Collin turns gangsta rapper to review 1 day

OUT FRIDAY 6TH NOVEMBER

Your comments

This article has 1 comment

this was a very good film

By jordan potts.. Posted January 21 2010 at 11:03 AM.

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