Plastic (film)

For other uses, see Plastic (disambiguation).
Plastic

DVD cover
Directed by Julian Gilbey
Produced by Sandro Forte
Chris Howard
Daniel Toland
Terry Stone
Written by Chris Howard
Julian Gilbey
Will Gilbey
Starring Ed Speleers
Alfie Allen
Will Poulter
Sebastian de Souza
Emma Rigby
Mem Ferda
Graham McTavish
Thomas Kretschmann
Narrated by Bamishe
Music by Chad Hobson
Cinematography Peter Wignall
Edited by Julian Gilbey
Will Gilbey
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Cinema Management Group (International Sales Agent)
Release dates
  • May 2, 2014 (United Kingdom)
Running time
102 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £3,000,000
Box office £1,241,092

Plastic is a British action comedy-crime film directed by Julian Gilbey and co-written by Will Gilbey and Chris Howard. The film stars Ed Speleers, Will Poulter, Alfie Allen, Sebastian de Souza and Emma Rigby.

Plot

Based on a true story, a group of English college students were running a successful credit card scam. They make a powerful enemy by stealing the wrong man's briefcase and are forced to enlist the help of Frankie, who works for a credit card company. The group of five then go to try and rack up two million pounds to pay off their debt but fall short during a night of strippers and champagne. To make up for the money they still need, they plan a diamond heist.

Cast

Production

On 6 December 2012, Ed Speleers, Will Poulter and Alfie Allen were announced to star in the film, with Julian Gilbey set to direct and Chris Howard, Julian Gilbey and Will Gilbey set to write the film.[1] International distribution rights are being licensed by Cinema Management Group[2]

Filming

On 10 December 2012, Gateway Films announced the start of principal photography of the film which will be filmed in different international locations include Brunei, London, Manchester and Miami.[3]

Release

The film was released in the UK on the 2nd of May, 2014,[4] and later released in the US on the 26th of September, 2014.[5]

Critical response

The film was critically panned on release, scoring a 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus reads "Far-fetched, frantically overstuffed, and unfunny, Plastic seems to use its title as a goal as much as a description."[6]

Guy Lodge of Variety said "The title says it all in this cheap, laborious junior heist thriller from British B-movie journeyman Julian Gilbey".[7] Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent "A nasty streak of casual sexism runs through an already unpleasant and absurdly far-fetched film".[8] Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter said "All champagne and strippers, conspicuous consumption and witless machismo, Plastic is a contemporary British heist movie that already feels dated, as if it were made before the bubble burst on Guy Ritchie's comic book gangster voyeurism".[9]

There were, however, some positive reviews. Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times stated that "As mindless entertainment goes, it's a pretty watchable time-passer.",[10] and Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times said "It's hard to escape the sense that 'Plastic' is itself a cheap knockoff, but the point is not to look too closely".[11]

In an interview with The Guardian whilst promoting his film, The Maze Runner, actor Will Poulter expressed his disdain for starring in the film, describing the film as "bad" and saying "It’s really tough, man. Because it’s shaming. And the worst thing is thinking someone will think you did it for dishonourable reasons. I’m not shifting the blame. I recognise my responsibility to that film. But I’ve tried to shake it off since.” He closed out his interview by saying "I’ve got the one film that I regret out of my way. And I don’t intend to make another one.”[12]

References

  1. "Speleers, Poulter and Allen to star in Plastic". screendaily.com. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  2. Roxborough, Scott. "AFM: Russian, Middle East Hot for 'Plastic'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  3. "Filming Begins On Plastic". femalefirst.co.uk. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  4. "Plastic". Cineworld Cinemas. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  5. LLoyd, Kenji (August 13, 2014). "Plastic US release date teaser poster". Finalreel. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  6. "Plastic". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  7. Lodge, Guy (September 27, 2014). "Film Review: ‘Plastic’". Variety. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  8. Macnab, Geoffrey (May 2, 2014). "Plastic, film review: Nasty streak of casual sexism runs through absurdly far-fetched film". The Independent. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  9. Dalton, Stephen (April 30, 2014). "Plastic: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  10. Goldstein, Gary (September 25, 2014). "Review 'Plastic' a slick, 'Ocean's Eleven'-type crime caper". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  11. Kenigsberg, Ben (September 25, 2014). "But Hacking Credit Cards Seemed Like Such a Good Idea". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  12. Lamont, Tom (October 5, 2013). "Will Poulter: ‘Hanging out in Soho House LA, that’s my worst nightmare’". The Guardian. Retrieved October 24, 2014.

External links