Wild Bill
Actors: Neil Maskell, Charlie Creed Miles, Liz White
Release Date: Monday 30th November -0001
Genre(s): Drama
Running time: 98 minutes
An extremely confident debut from British character actor Dexter Fletcher, the plot here may not exactly scream originality but the emotion driving it forward feels very real. Not only has Fletcher gotten incredibly organic performances from a superb cast, he nails it tonally with some assured helming.
We first meet the titular Bill (Creed-Miles) as he leaves prison after an eight year stretch. Returning home to find his 11 and 15 year old sons living alone after their mother abandoned them; he's quickly made feel unwelcome by eldest son, Dean (a great Poulter), but must hang around when social services come calling and a foster home for the two lads becomes a possibility. Falling in with local crime boss played by Andy Serkis, he soon must make a decision that will prove whether prison really has made him a better and less selfish father.
Affecting and as gritty as you'd expect given a setting deeply rooted in the working classes of London, there are many impressive things about Fletcher's freshman film, but none more so than his fine work with the cast. Creed-Miles has one of those faces you'll recognise off the bat, but may find difficult to place (Harry Browne for one); however his work here should see him bag higher profile work - he's great as Bill, often excelling in the quieter moments. Pretty much every scene is stolen by Poulter, though, who is really growing into a superb young actor.
A lot of directors, especially those making their feature debuts, will try to overcompensate with stylistic choices. It's a trap even very talented helmers fall into, but Fletcher has been around the block long enough to avoid ripping anyone off he's worked with before, or over shoot and edit his film. It's character driven, and said characters are interesting and well written enough for nothing else to matter.
A very fine British drama, that has characters engaging enough for a somewhat predictable plot not to matter. Recommended.
