Rise of the Footsoldier
| Rise of the Footsoldier | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Julian Gilbey |
| Written by | Julian Gilbey & Mike Hawk |
| Starring |
Ricci Harnett Craig Fairbrass Roland Manookian Terry Stone Coralie Rose |
| Distributed by | Optimum Releasing |
Release dates | 7 September 2007 |
Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £220,868[1] |
Rise of the Footsoldier is a British crime film released on 7 September 2007. The third production from BAFTA Award-nominated director Julian Gilbey, it is a gangster film based on the true story of the 1995 Rettendon murders and the autobiography of Carlton Leach,[2] a football hooligan of the infamous Inter City Firm (ICF) who became a powerful figure of the English underworld.[3][4]
Main cast
- Ricci Harnett as Carlton Leach
- Craig Fairbrass as Pat Tate
- Roland Manookian as Craig Rolfe
- Terry Stone as Tony Tucker
- Coralie Rose as Denny
- Neil Maskell as Darren Nicholls
- Billy Murray as Mickey Steele
- Ian Virgo as Jimmy Gerenuk
- Kierston Wareing as Kate Carter
- Patrick Regis as Eddie
- Lara Belmont as Karen
- Emily Beecham as Kelly
- Frank Harper as Jack Whomes
- Jason Maza as Rob
- Mark Killeen as Terry
- Dave Legeno as Big John
- Dhaffer L'Abidine as Emre Baran
- Mitchell Lewis as Kemal Baran
- Eden Ford as Paul
- George Calil as Police Killer
- Jay Taylor as Chris Wightman
- Phillip Weddell as Young Carlton
Evaluation in film guides
TimeOut Film Guide (2011 edition) reviewer David Jenkins describes Rise of the Footsoldier as "a repugnant gangland romp in which ruffians get tooled up with axe handles, baseball bats and Stanley knives then knock ten bells out of each other for two hours." After a one-sentence overview, the review concludes that "Leach is then unceremoniously swept aside as the film hastily attempts to give the Rettendon Range Rover murders a once-over in the scrappy second half."
In America, Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever also disliked it, throwing the film one bone (out of possible four) and dismissing it as "Brit crime flick, based on a true story, that has nothing going for it but violence". Indicating that "Carlton Leach goes from football hooligan in the 1980s to criminal muscle and gangster in the 1990s", the write-up ends with mention of "three murdered drug dealers who were found in rural Essex".
Similar films
The films Essex Boys (2000), Bonded by Blood (2010), The Fall of the Essex Boys (2013) and Essex Boys Retribution (2013) are also based – to varying degrees – on the Rettendon murders.
References
- ↑ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/intl/?page=&id=_fRISEOFTHEFOOTSOL01
- ↑ Leach, Carlton (2003). Muscle. Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-904034-48-3
- ↑ Chambers, Catherine (2 September 2007). "Rise of the Footsoldier". BBC Online. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- ↑ Gritten, David (7 September 2007). "Rise of the Footsoldier". Telegraph Online. Retrieved 18 September 2014.