During the 2012 British Academy Film Awards, five actors were nominated for the "BAFTA Rising Star Award". Four of them are actors who, in the last few years or so, have risen to Hollywood success and critical acclaim. These included Thor and The Avengers stars, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddlestone, Bridesmaids cutie and unlikely heartthrob, Chris O'Dowd and rising star in the indie movie scene, Eddie Redmayne. In all likelihood, any of them should have won over the eventual winner, Adam Deacon. Although, under close inspection, the fact that he won over the Hollywood stars makes sense. Deacon, like 2009 BAFTA Rising Star Award winner, Noel Clarke, has a comparatively niche audience, but an extremely loyal one. The films he stars in, and occasionally directs, are by no means good, but they do not talk down to his audience and they set out to entertain his fans, and his fans only. He makes films about gangsters, football, London estates which feature a rap, grime and dustup score and dialogue which features lots of swear words. Deacon could be considered the personification of the phrase, "...setting the bar low".
Adam Deacon stars as Jerome, a successful footballer being hyped as the next David Beckham. When he goes home to the estate he grew up on, he comes across some childhood friends, lead by gangster, drug dealer and loan shark, Baron (David Ajala). During a night out, Baron manages to take advantage of Jerome's success and asks him for £10,000. Jerome accepts, except now Baron begins blackmailing him for another ten grand (this time under the false pretence that he will use the money to protect Jerome's little brother, Aaron). Eventually, Jerome finds himself in Baron's pocket, who demands £15,000 every couple of months, to fund his drug empire.
Believe me, the sound of the collective eye-rolling that I can hear from everyone reading this right now is not falling on deaf ears. I also appreciate, like yourselves, that British cinema has become plagued with this "guns, gangsters and geezers" nonsense. However, for its predictability, I just cannot bring myself to hate this piece of work. Do not get me wrong, it is a bad film. The script is predictable, the direction is poor, the acting is amateurish and it seems all but destined for a straight-to-DVD release. However, it is endearingly earnest and picking on it would feel like an act of cruelty. Unlike other British straight-to-DVD, ahem, "stars", like Danny Dyer or Noel Clark, Deacon seems to really believe in the tripe he is peddling. There is a refreshing lack of cynicism to his work, and if this sounds like empty praise, I do think that is fairly admirable.
Having said all that, the film is still mind numbingly dull, and its sincerity is not a substitute for quality. In the first few seconds of the film, a grime-rap song plays over the opening credits, meaning the soundtrack is horribly cliched, and this is before a line of dialogue has yet to be uttered. Speaking of the dialogue, it too is cliched, with characters talking in gangster, estate slang, with every conversation revolving around football, sex and cars. To give you an example of how stale the dialogue is, I kid you not, several times throughout the film, someone makes a "your mum" gag. There is nothing here which is awful, but it is also inessential, uninteresting and bordering on self parody. No stone is left unturned, with every cliche which has permeated British gangster cinema appearing to rear its ugly head. For example, take the characterisation, which is so broad that every character can be summed up in less than one sentence. Jerome, for instance, is the good guy. We know he is a good guy because he is polite to his mum and buys his brother new shoes. I am sure this will resonate with certain audience members, who would consider family values to be a virtue that should be held up above all other morals, but to most people, this just comes off as hokey.
In all honesty, there is little that is interesting about this picture. In terms of acting, the entire ensemble comes across as amateur and uninspired; especially Deacon, who is better known as a supporting player in other people's movies. I may be mistaken, but this a rare example of Deacon as a leading man, and while he does not bump into the furniture, he seems a little lost here. Perhaps the most heartbreaking piece of bad acting comes from Anna Popplewell as Izzy, a tabloid journalist. It is heartbreaking because, back in 2005 she played Susan Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and later reprised the role inThe Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I count myself among one of many people who hoped that she would break out into more starring roles, so it is fairly crushing to see her in this film, giving a performance this bad. An exception is David Ajala, as Baron; who is fairly menacing, even if he is just doing his best Idris Elba impression.
To be frank, there is just nothing to say about this film, other than that the devoted audience of Adam Deacon fans that will be sure to flock to it will most likely enjoy it. It is good to know that there is an actor who knows his limitations and sticks firmly to his comfort zone, as backhanded as that seems it is fairly refreshing. As long as there are performers like Deacon around, they are sure to be films being released like this which, despite being utterly dull, will sell very well to a crowd of devotees. Which leads me to conclude by saying that, on the one hand, Payback Season is far from an awful movie, and it certainly does not deserve the 2.6 out of 10 score which it has on the Internet Movie Database. However, on the other hand, it is the cinematic equivalent of waiting for paint to dry or the kettle to boil. You will probably have more fun doing anything else with your time, but if you do find yourself watching it, I doubt you will have a terrible time.
4/10
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