London Kills Me

Stars: Justin Chadwick, Steven Mackintosh, Brad Dourif (Child's Play series, Horseplayer, Jungle Fever). Written and directed by Hanif Kureishi (novelist and screenwriter of My Beautiful Laundrette, and Sammie and Rosie Get Laid), this slice-of-life portrait of down and out London drug dealers is an intermittently interesting journey built around one joke. Clint (Justin Chadwick), who's known as "Clint Eastwood," is a rangy, greasy-haired kid who wants to go straight and get a real job. He applies for work at a local restaurant, and is told he can start the following week if he gets a new pair of shoes. It never occurs to Clint that he might part with a few quid and actually buy shoes; on the contrary, he's always looking for a pair to steal. Taking over an uninhabited flat, Clint worries about his future while his merry band of drug buddies (led by the inelegantly named "Muffdiver") concoct a major plan to corner a lucrative portion of the London street drug traffic. There are a few good laughs packed into this sprawling tale of modern British Dickensian street urchins; however, the "new shoes" theme is a rather thin peg on which to hang a 107 minute movie. Consequently, the film drags...often. Audience: Those looking for something different; people who thought My Beautiful Laundrette was a knee-slapper.