| Essex Boys | |
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| Directed by | Terry Winsor |
| Produced by | Jeff Pope |
| Written by | Terry Winsor Jeff Pope |
| Starring | Sean Bean Ross Morgan Alex Kingston Charlie Creed-Miles Tom Wilkinson Holly Davidson Michael McKell |
| Music by | Colin Towns |
| Cinematography | John Daly |
| Editing by | Edward Mansell |
| Distributed by | Miramax Home Video and Pathe-UK |
| Release date(s) | 14 July 2000 |
| Running time | 102 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Essex Boys is a 2000 British crime film. It was directed by Terry Winsor and stars Sean Bean, Alex Kingston, Tom Wilkinson, Charlie Creed-Miles and Holly Davidson.
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The film is based loosely around events in December 1995 that culminated in the murders of three top drug barons in Rettendon, Essex, UK. On 6 December 1995, Patrick Tate, Craig Rolfe and Tony Tucker, three drug dealers well known to the police, were lured to Workhouse Lane, Rettendon on the pretext of a lucrative drug deal. There they were killed by shotgun blasts to the head while sitting in their Range Rover. The bodies were found the following morning. This scene and other details of the 1990s Essex and London criminal milieu are also featured in the film Rise of the Footsoldier (2007).
Two men, Jack Whomes and Michael Steele, were convicted of the murders after police informer Darren Nicholls gave evidence against his former friends at their Old Bailey trial. They have always protested their innocence.
The film met with generally negative critical reviews, maintaining a 17% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The viewer ratings have generally been more positive.