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| Mean Machine | |
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Certificate:  |
Vinnie Jones, Vas Blackwood, David Hemmings, Jason Statham |
| Length: 95 minutes | Director: Barry Skolnick |
Rating:  |
If you thought hard man Vinnie Jones had hung his soccer boots up for good you were mistaken. The soccer star turned Hollywood actor returns to the game in Mean Machine, a remake of the Burt Reynolds classic The Longest Yard. Full of amusing fouls and one-liners Mean Machine lacks the emotion and intensity of the original but scores with the laughs and laddish tale that is not a million miles from Lock Stock... and Snatch. (This is hardly surprising with Guy Richie as executive producer and lovable rogues Jones and Jason Statham on screen. Jones plays Danny Meehan, who after being sacked from the England team amid allegations of match fixing and beating up two police officers suddenly finds himself behind bars. With all of the inmates against him and the governor hassling him to coach his football team Meehan's problems are only just beginning. After a few fights and dodgy dealings the film ends with a big match against the prison guards. Emotions are running high for the cons and it all becomes much more than just a game. Although some of the actors perform better on the pitch than they do on screen, Jones does seem much more at ease in front on the camera with a performance that will undoubtedly win him points in the heart throb stakes if nothing else. But the obvious plot and predictable characters means that the film is more Nationwide Conference than Premiership. |