It's a rare occurrence for me to see a film that I know very little about and with the mass marketing of most movies nowadays it's quite a difficult thing to achieve. However, in the case of Wild Bill the only thing I knew was that the film marks Dexter Fletcher's directorial debut.

The film centres around the eponymous Bill who we meet upon his release from prison on The Isle of Wight following an eight year stretch for various transgressions in his early life. Bill returns to his home in East London to find that his two young sons have been abandoned by their mother and are now trying to cope on their own whilst avoiding the gaze of social services. The eldest son has taken on the paternal role and is reluctant to relinquish this upon his fathers return but this reluctance pales in comparison to Bill's own lack of interest in raising his sons. There are the expected gangster side stories (it is East London after all) but the heart of the movie is concerned with Bill re-establishing the relationships with his boys and attempting to go straight.

The fact that I can report that Wild Bill is an excellent little film provides me with much joy. The above synopsis might make it sound like a Mike Leigh kitchen sink drama but nothing could be further from the truth. This is a genuinely funny film and Fletcher takes a lot of time to fashion characters that the audience can sympathise with and relate to. The gangsters are slightly two dimensional but this doesn't detract from the warm and rewarding tale of a man finally growing up and embracing his responsibilities.

Dexter Fletcher shows that his near 30 years as an actor have taught him many things about the art of directing and he takes to this role with great aplomb. A particular high point in the film, from a directorial point of view, comes when Bill is teaching his youngest son to throw paper airplanes from their high rise flat. The camera follows one of these planes as is loops and circles to the ground in a beautiful continuous shot that marks a significant turning point in the protagonists journey.

The cast are well employed here and Charlie Creed-Miles (Bill) does a wonderful job of holding the piece together and transforming the character from a good for nothing ex con into a caring father, willing to do anything for his sons. Special mention should go to Will Poulter who plays Bill's eldest son (Dean). This young man has a very bright future ahead and the maturity of his performance is incredibly touching. Those who remember Poulter from his earlier movie 'Son of Rambow' will not be surprised to see that this teenage actor is developing into a fine young talent indeed. The rest of the cast reads like a who's who of journeymen British actors and it would not surprise me to learn that many of the performers who have short cameos aren't simply doing this for their old mate Dexter.

There are comparisons to be made between the story here and that of many an old fashioned western but the point isn't laboured. A scene towards the end of the film actually put me in mind of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven in a rather odd way (look for the pub fight) and this only increased my affection for this wonderful film.

The East End backdrop is dominated by the recent additions of the Olympic Stadia and Dean actually has a job working on the construction site of the velodrome. The renewal of the area is an obvious metaphor for Bill's transformation from old east end villain to new, loving family man. I cannot imagine, however, that LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) intend to use this film as an enticement for tourists as it still shows a gritty underbelly to the area that no number of sporting developments can hope to erase.

Wild Bill will garner a lot of praise and hopefully ensure that Dexter Fletcher's voice as a writer and director is encouraged and used to make further such homegrown gems. I, for one, cannot wait to see what he makes next.

I must say, this is my first movie review ever, and that was the movie which made me do so.

Plot made me to really get into story and kept me hooked from beginning.

It was really well and acted. Cast did just awesome job especially parts they had to show characters emotions. I haven't seen a good British drama since "Harry Brown"

So if you are person who loves dramas which bring up a lot emotions and makes you put yourself in characters position, I Definitely recommend this film. I give it 9/10.

A mixture of urban grit, humor, and emotional turbulence while maintaining a sense of authenticity throughout, director Dexter Fletcher delivers a prominent, charming British drama. Thanks to a deeply heartfelt script--a cast that boasts a wealth of British acting talent (including Charlie Creed-Miles, Will Poulter, Andy Serkis, and Jaime Winstone), "Wild Bill" successfully adds a fresh approach and perspective to the heavily saturated genre of broken families and urban decay.

Charlie Creed-Miles gets top billing here as "Wild Bill," the former drug-dealing tough guy who has spent the past 8 years under lock and key. Returning home on parole to find his two sons abandoned by their mother, Bill is blackmailed by his eldest, embittered son Dean into sticking around until the threat of being placed into social services has passed. As Bill begins to bond with his younger son Jimmy (Sammy Williams), local drug dealer "T" (Leo Gregory), digs his claws into both father and son.

Fletcher's debut is outstanding, and Charlie Creed-Miles performance as Bill is a knockout. Bill, whose hasty journey to redemption could so easily have seemed abhorrently contrived, yet strangely feels incredibly organic and totally believable. The enjoyment of "Wild Bill" is derived from its incredibly nuanced and engaging performances.

Many societal issues are addressed in Wild Bill: neglected children, alcoholism, prostitution, teen pregnancy, drug dealing, and the impact of role models on today's youth (or the lack thereof). Yet the film manages to remain far lighter than its weighty material. Thanks in part to the sharp writing by Fletcher and co-writer Danny King; Wild Bill manages to be funny without sacrificing the emotional power that drives the narrative.

"Wild Bill" is one of those rare films that possesses energy and vibrancy that manages to keep you rooting for its characters from start to finish. Fletcher's debut will not be an instant hit that propels his name into the spotlight--or recognized by the general public, yet he should be commended for creating a genuinely delightful piece of British social realism laced with charisma and wit. For audiences, "Wild Bill" is a surprisingly entertaining and well-told story that is far more relevant than most would want to believe.

I had heard good things about this film, and I'm pleased to say that it more than lived up to my expectations. There is something about Wild Bill that lifts it above being just another British socio-realist drama. The soundtrack is fantastic with tracks by The Clash and Aaron Neville enhancing certain moments in the film. There is the Western influence with Bill, played by Charlie Creed-Miles, who gives a wonderfully understated performance, trying to do the right thing against the odds, and dishing out some righteous revenge to the gang of drug dealers that exploited his son. But there is one scene in particular, where Bill shows his youngest son how to make paper aeroplanes and they launch one out of the window of their tower block flat and the camera duly follows it as it gets blown around the London skyline, which is pure poetry. I certainly think that Dexter Fletcher will be a director to watch out for in the future, as he clearly has a love of film and surprisingly for a first time director has a grasp of what works visually. For the first time in a while, since Shane Meadows, I'm excited about the work of a British filmmaker and can't wait for his next film. He's certainly laid down a marker with Wild Bill.

Oh Dexter Fletcher! How I have your name engraved in my mind for all eternity from when I was a little boy watching 'Press Gang'. An iconic name for those of my generation and British acting. He managed to appear in many a film but never a leading man but now tries his hand at directing.

I think Mr Fletcher may have found his way of breaking out by stepping behind the camera. What we have here is a very well written and directed film debut about a man who is released from prison and finds himself looking after his 2 sons whose mother has abandoned them.

It isn't an exciting film as this is a drama with some light humour thrown in. It's quality British film making where we go and take a peak at something which is more than likely true to real life.

Many familiar fine British actors are recognisable in this film and Mr Fletcher no doubt had no trouble in bringing out their finest performances as I'm sure he's probably friends or familiar with them. This makes viewing the film as if watching real life.

So, if you want to take break and watch something engaging then do so by watching Wild Bill. The performances are great (Will Poulter will be a star one day), the story is realistic and gritty and the direction for a first timer is spot on. This isn't the type of film you'll watch repeatedly but the type you'll be glad that you've seen the once.

Wild Bill is directed by Dexter Fletcher who also co-writes the screenplay with Danny King. It stars Charlie Creed-Miles, Will Poulter, Liz White, Sammy Williams, Charlotte Spencer, Leo Gregory, Neil Maskell and Iwan Rheon. Music is by Christian Henson and cinematography by George Richmond.

Wild Bill Hayward (Creed-Miles) is just out of prison after serving eight years. Heading home he finds his two sons Dean (Poulter) and Jimmy (Williams) fending for themselves after their mother abandoned them. Bill hadn't planned on hanging around, but if he doesn't then the boys will be taken into care. More pressing is that the local drug runners have got young Jimmy working for them, Bill might just have to take his parental responsibilities to another level and justify his Wild reputation.

Splendid piece of British grit and wit, Wild Bill follows in the traditions of films directed by British actors, who for their debut directing assignment impressed with the ability to grab the attention and no loosen the grip. Fletcher has done a bang up job here, managing to turn what could have been a standard dysfunctional family melodrama into something more meaningful, engaging and suspenseful.

Story is set to the backdrop of working class London, where the building of the Olympic stadium serves as a beacon of hope in the distance, while our principal characters struggle through a world of grimy flats, empty pubs, dirty cafés and drug infested council estates.

The narrative operates on two fronts, Bill (Miles superb) is trying to keep on the straight and narrow, as he candidly observes, if his dog craps on the pavement he will get 18 months back in prison! But as he tries to build a relationship with his two sons, especially the older and more colder Dean, circumstances are drawing him back into the violent world he desperately wants to leave behind. It's this angle that gives the film its suspense, as viewers we are wondering if Bill can achieve his goals, will he get a break, will the family become one unit?

Elsewhere the film operates as a coming of age story, where Dean has had to grow up real fast to look after his younger brother, even taking on employment at the age of 15 to provide for Jimmy and himself. Then there is matters of the heart, as he is strongly attracted to local girl Steph (Spencer), this aspect is very well handled by Fletcher, who gets the excellent Poulter to deftly portray those early nerves when Cupid starts to draw back its bow, the tentative fumblings of young love easily identifiable to us all.

Pic is full of familiar British faces, most of them just stopping by in cameos to lend friendly support to Fletcher's project. They all offer a reassuring presence to proceedings, adding further weight to what is damn fine debut picture. Sometimes violent, often heart warming and tender, and very laugh out loud funny, Wild Bill is a winner. 9/10

Went to watch this movie after an awful time watchin "The Hunger Games". Not to expect much out of it this movie really surprised & amazed me.

The story line's smooth with good performances all round. Liked the plot with the father returning after doing time to the so called home, the kids settling in a parent less world and sudden chaos caused with the father's return not to forget the intervention of the child services & the so called drug peddlers pitching in to a a nicely woven story. Must acknowledge the director for the good work.

Its been a good Saturday end thanks to "Wild Bill"

Rating 7 of 10, go out and watch this good flick.

Really well made with the first-time director making full use of his actors and their surroundings to make a film that is great to look at as well as being a well put together drama. All the main characters were excellently played by Charlie Creed-Mills, Will Poulter (who I last saw in the (also excellent) 'Son of Rambow'), the young Sammy Williams and Leo Gregory. I should also mention Liz White as Roxy and Charlotte Spencer as Steph; both did a great job also. A film with great emotional depth that doesn't over-play the drama too much and I have to admit I really enjoyed it!

SteelMonster's verdict: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My score: 9.0/10.

You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

Watched this movie knowing nothing about it, and with the name wild bill, though it was one of those silly lets kill everyone movies, but i was absolutely engrossed by this movie from the first 5 mins, great storyline, and great acting, and being from this part of London myself, it catches the essence of life in the London ghetto life, and towards the end of the movie you really feel for the lead character and find yourself getting chocked up for the guy.

8 out of 10 from me, and i'm normally a hard critic of English films as there been so much rubbish in the last few years coming out of england.

I'm fully intent to watch this film again, and this time take my wife so she can see what i was raving about to her about this film.

Charlie Creed-Miles and Will Poulter have given me faith in English films again...

After 8 years inside Bill Hayward returns home to find his now 11 and 15 year old sons abandoned by their mother and fending for themselves.

Dean the older boy has found a job and is doing his best to bring up his younger brother Jimmy, but the arrival of Bill has brought them to the attention of social services.

With the danger of being put into care looming, Dean forces his Dad to stay by threatening to grass him up for dealing. He agrees to stay for a week to fool social services that the boys are being cared for.

Bill quickly connects with Jimmy and through this new bond starts to realise what he's been missing. He has a family, he is a father.

However, their happy family is short lived when Jimmy gets into trouble with Bill's old cohorts....

You would be forgiven, if you thought this was just another one of those kitchen sink type London dramas that arrived ten a penny after the arrival of one Guy Ritchie.

And while this has similarities to many of those films, thanks to Fletchers great direction, and the genius portrayal of the titular character by Miles, this is one of those rare cases where a British film about a criminal trying to go straight, despite his past catching up with him, is very, very good.

It helps too that the chemistry between the screen family is solid, and it's pretty believable. Apart from the typecast white guy who thinks he is of a different ethnicity, its very believable, the villains are to your typical wide boys, and it's very funny and sweet in places.

It's a shame that it does carry the burden of an atypical Brit crime flick, but it's a very powerful family drama, that carries emotional depth, and a very funny streak throughout.

Recommended.

Bill is back and he wants to go straight, and connect back to his kids who don't like him much - can he go straight when the world wants to bring him back down?

It is a good film, i liked it but i found myself shouting at the TV on occasion - too many things are introduced but never fleshed out enough and in some cases forgotten about. The massive block of coke they get? What about the bag of drugs they give the lead - what happens to them? The copper(Dear Sean)with his foreboding warning, the massive drug king pin? the lead roles back history; what had he done to a)the drug king pin and b) the drug dealers brother?? You are left to assume but never find out...

Rant over.

Overall the film is a good one but in parts i felt like i was watching a comedy; particularly the pub fight scene - Dicky? Hard? Pepper spray and a blade? He runs off first chance he gets, lol. They all do. The landlord hides in the cellar and his wife(poss Daughter) moans that she 'only just hoovered'. Does that sound serious? not sure it adds to the overall feeling for the scene...

I'm ranting again. Argh.

Despite the above - i would watch it again, the story was good and Dexter has an eye for direction, the cast did themselves proud (although the drug kingpin was a bit lame with his Maccy D's coffee). There is a beautiful scene with a paper aeroplane, rarely have i seen a scene that sums a moment up so well, a real gem for that scene alone.

Enjoy it, but expect to be a little bit confused, if not a little annoyed in parts. 7/10 for me.

Buried beneath the heavy concrete terrain of an east London skyline, itself swallowed up by the sprawling almost monstrous constructs of the imminent summer Olympiad, dwell the complex myriad of indigenous life which we peer into rookie director Dexter Fletcher's Shameless meets Eastenders Goldfish bowl , where the natives hide under the veneer of hooded tracksuits, baseball caps, West Ham United glyphs and shabby council properties. Fletcher's choice of aesthetic layers creates an effective personal space for his characters to bare all in what is quintessentially a snapshot of the contemporary urban British underclasses.

Fletcher embraces a plethora of themes which at times is problematic but also typical and honest traits of most directorial debuts, usually incumbent of the personal near self-biographical nature of maiden projects as well as the developing maturation of artistry and artistic discipline. There are shades of Fletcher's career history bursting onto screen throughout, there is the "guns and geezers" pastiche of the likes of Lock Stock and Layercake, pre and post-adolescent inflections no doubt drawn in some form from a past in children's TV. All of which manifest in a diversity and fluctuation of the tone and pace which encompasses comedic and dramatic flair with good measure.

The strengths of the piece are undoubtedly the earnest endeavours of the script, telling a most simplistic yet salient story of our times, whilst the ensemble cast produce a stream of coherent performances to both authenticate and entertain. When an ironically mild Bill (Charlie Creed-Miles) returns from an eight year stretch, he looks to instantly remedy the ills created by his incarceration by searching for his two sons, what he finds at the end of this process is that with sustained hiatus comes restrained welcome making re-assimilation all the more trickier. The biggest slice of resentment comes from the star of the show Will Poulter who in playing the eldest son Dean manages a performance that mirrors the plight of his character, a 15 year old who is forced to be a man though he is yet a boy assuming patriarchal control of his younger brother Jimmy and himself. Poulter's projection is a frowning determination delivering tough talk and home truths to "Bill", calling and in the same sense mocking him as just that and refusing to use the expected but as yet unearned epithet.

The narrative plays out key inversions, the closer Bill gets to parental reconciliation, the more caustic his relationship with the local drug dealers of his own nefarious past become. Whilst the more Dean and his troublesome sibling let their guard down, invoking their estranged fathers care that is alien to them, the more vulnerable they become. In the end Fletcher strikes gold by exploring socially corrosive subjects of absent fathers, drugs and violence against women with no shortage of charm, wit and heart warming humanity.

By no means perfect (few are at this stage) but a great way to get off the mark as a director.

Wow guys cinematic magic.... I rarely sit watching a movie without sighing in despair or getting up to go to the toilet without a really pressing bladder...this movie made me hold my kitten like bladder, an even press pause....I just sat in awe of the magic this movie portrays...wont bore you with BS is awesome!!..acting is superb well done to each and everyone directing camera the whole shebang!! I cant fault it..am going to watch it again hope this movie wins an award an to Bill the actor ....havent even had time to check your name but congrats AAA+ totally believable and felt every emotion.... raw inviting realism on so many levels!! A masterpiece!

First time i have written a review,but,felt the need to in this case after reading the 4 great reviews before.I want to say that in my opinion the rave reviews given do not correctly reflect the film,I'd go as far as to say that they were probably written by people to do with the making of the film.My own impartial opinion is that although not a bad film (bit like a gritty episode of Grange Hill)with very good performances from the leading characters,apart from the awful drug dealers (come on lads)you can only work with what you have got,and in this case it was an awful script,clichéd in every way.If you are going to watch a film with some grit and integrity do yourself a favour and watch Paddy Considine's TYRANNOSAUR (also a directorial debut)which is gritty,powerful and raw.Unfortunately all the things this movie lacks.

What do you do when you come back home after serving time, and find your children abandoned by their mother, fending for themselves in their apartment. What do you do, when to add to your miseries the social service gives you one final warning to either mend your ways, or lose your family forever.

I can't say much about us, but Wild Bill Hayward (Charlie Creed-Miles) works as a human signpost. He can't risk it and wants to set the broken pieces right. His elder son Dean (Will Poulter) is a no nonsense guy. A tough life in the absence of his parents has made him being worked up all the time.

But the crown goes to Jimmy (Sammy Williams) who is the sweetest kid in the block, and is successfully, and willingly lured by the drug peddlers, and the local drug dealer. He is the one who seems to have inherited his father's genes perhaps. But Bill knows that he has to fight back. He has to keep Jimmy out of harms way, and in his mission, he is arrested again for breaking the terms of the parole.

The story of the film is good, but the way it has been scripted and has been shot makes that difference, and makes it a winner.

Two classy scenes that's a must watch. The scene where Bill makes a paper airplane and propels it to take a wonderful flight from his balcony much to the delight of Jimmy.

The second one is the last scene, when he tells the cop as he is about to be driven away on the police car. "They are my boys. I am their dad", and then he cries almost inconsolably. I still feel that powerful emotion while I am writing this review.

It's a must watch movie that would remind you of the style in Tyrannosaur and most of the attitude in Attack the Block. Go for it.

Indiekaleidoscope

(58%) To make yet another low budgeted cockney based crime drama is a bit like making yet another low budget zombie horror, it's something that has been done and done and done. So to stand out from the pack it really needs to be a sizeable step up from the more average entries. And I'm glad to report that this is. The first time feature film director Dexter Fletcher really has created something that shows the near impossible situation ex-cons face, and not in the more lazily way of gang intimidation to get back into a life of crime, but home and family life too. It also helps that the writing feels like something that was actually worked on rather than scribbled down on a bit of paper during shooting. While the performances are all pretty good, even if a couple of the side characters are a little underwritten. Overall a really quite solid crime drama with more than a few nice touches of comedy, a cool soundtrack, and more than a bit of heart, all set in the backdrop of a harsh London neighbourhood that's constantly changing.

For anybody abroad who sees this film and is familiar with the touristy London, the sight of these disgusting squalid flats and the amount of kids dealing or hooked on drugs will be shocked. Alas, I fear this is far closer to the real inner city areas than our politicians care to confess, and I pity any child who grows up in these depressing surroundings as they have very little hope.

Aside from having more smackable 'people' in it than any recent film in living memory, it also provides one of the more brutal punch-ups as Wild Bill lays into the gangstas who threaten his children. Well, you'd do the same wouldn't you?

It's not a great drama, with a pretty standard storyline we've all seen before in various guises and lots of shouting which is supposed to pass for acting. But it's never boring, and Charlie Creed-Miles is great as the ex-con titular character. If only all inmates could be as easily reformed as him... 6/10

Dexter Fletcher's directorial debut "Wild Bill" is a proper piece of British kitchen sink drama for the 21st Century - a quasi-western, set in modern London, which draws on influence from the likes of "Unforgiven" and "Shane" whilst taking its snappy dialogue from something like "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and doing everything a film feeding off the story telling cues of classical Hollywood cinema ought to. Additionally, and perhaps controversially for our era, the film dares to impart the idea that family is important and that not all men are vile useless pigs, (although they can still be pretty unpleasant), but are able to care; love; feel and clean up the mess the woman this time left behind.

Charlie Creed-Miles plays the eponymous 'wild' Bill, actually the name research tells me of a real-life American cowboy from the old West, who has served eight years in an Isle of Wight prison and has returned to the only other place in the world he knows: East London. What he returns to is nothing short of a mess: his two children, now 11 and 15, are living by themselves having had their mother walk out on them with a new man. Jimmy, his youngest, is failing school on account of not even attending, while Dean has already had to drop out to support the pair of them and now works on a construction site helping to build the 2012 Olympic Stadium. Try as I might, I could not spot any particular social commentary on the presence of such a thing.

Dean has little sympathy for his father, ordering him out and gone. Bill just wants to help. When he learns it was Dean's birthday shortly after getting out, he tries to host a party explaining that he felt bad for missing it. "Which one?" comes back the reply. What other characters say of Bill does not synchronise with what we come to observe of the man - he has lost something whilst being away, and is jokingly referred to as "mild" Bill by an accomplice. We know he made a mistake in the past - the barman at his local provides us with some information on what Bill used to do, namely drink a lot of beer and get into a mass brawl. It is worth noting, then, that when he sits and drinks with his friends Dickie (Neil Maskell) and Terry (Leo Gregory), he has resorted in this new epoch to drinking Coke as they down the amber nectar. Being on probation, and dead-set on not having to return to prison, Bill has to watch himself. To some extent, the film infers that prison works as a form of rehabilitation in Britain.

Having spun a highly effective opening act, Fletcher begins to poke and prod away at Bill's world when he decides to take up the challenge of the story: to remain in London rather than go to Scotland to work on an oil rig so as to get his children back on the right path. We're aware that Bill possesses tremendous potential to unleash Hell, but like Clint Eastwood's character in "Unforgiven", he seems to have moved on; he has either reformed or become too old or just wants to calmly go about his business now. Trouble introduces itself when Bill's newfound presence in the area seems to start hurting a drug business the aforementioned Terry has going with a mob-boss played by Andy Serkis. It manifests further when Terry begins using young Jimmy to transport drugs anonymously around the streets.

Like westerns of old, the film is unafraid of dealing in straight up heroes and villains. Despite the liberal age in which the film was made, and the liberal society in which it is set, the bad people use drugs and sell drugs, while the good people take care of their children, value family and strive for justice. Fletcher injects a real sense of completion, for example, when Bill; Dean; Jimmy and a female character with whom Bill has struck up a friendship - the mother the family unit had lacked up to that point - sit around a large table and consume a Chinese takeaway. The scene carries a particular sense of distinguishability. The enemies of this scene are as such because they wish to destroy it: whisking Bill to the opposite end of the country (or, better yet, back to prison); enslaving the boy to criminality and abusing the female.

To this extent, I am surprised there are so many positive reviews for the film - the earlier point about the film daring to depict a working-class man redeeming himself in the face of the woman neglecting her paternal duties worth reiterating; its depiction of a father coming home to sort out a mess and take care of his children worth reiterating. Fletcher balances each of the strands covering the characters wonderfully - Jimmy's falling in with the wrong crowd; Dean's relationship with a girl his age and, of course, Bill's redemption.

Fletcher peppers his films with various generic Western genre traits: when Bill first gets home to London, a tumbleweed-like item blows past to the strains of a Morricone-style choral moan, and we realise the hero is essentially here to clean up the town. Later on, prior to the metaphorical shootout finale, Bill looks out over the city to strains of a harmonica - Serkis' character's distinctive jet-black overcoats may even remind you of the coats Jack Palance's character wore in "Shane", while a name like 'Jimmy' may even be something you might find on an old American range way-back-when. Irrespective, "Wild Bill" is a bounding success for a debut film - very funny, very affecting and very well concocted.

Wild Bill (Charlie Creed-Miles) has spent 8 years in prison. He has returned home and doesn't want to go back. He has discovered his wife has run off to Spain and his 11 an 15 year old sons James (Sammy Williams) and Dean (Will Poulter) are fending for themselves and would prefer not having their estranged father in their life. Bill wants to run off to Scotland and get away from everything, but child services has a different idea.

The family is thrust together and Bill tries to keep things clean in his old crack dealing neighborhood which doesn't go too well.

Like most UK productions the drama sometimes crosses lines with a twisted dark comedy that looks like tragedy. Good acting. Andy Serkis of LOTR fame has a small role as the big boss.

PARENTAL GUIDE: F-bombs, near sex, no nudity (bra /panties Charlotte Spencer) adult themes

Wild Bill – CATCH IT (B+) Wild bill is a very interesting British movie about ex convict returning home after 8 years and realize that his sons now 11 & 15 are living alone since their mother fled to Spain with her lover. When social services find out he pretend to stay for a while with his sons until social services give him back the guardianship. The concept of the movie is interesting and the execution is even more interesting. This movie is as real as it could have get, filled with brilliant performance each and everyone. Charlie Creed-Mills is great in his part. Will Poulter really impress me for the first time I actually hated him in Narnia 3. Iwan Rheon is soo talented and even in small roles you will notice him he is simply amazing. Can't wait to see him in "Game Of Thrones". Liz White looked hot. Charlotte Spencer, Jamie Winstone, Sammy Williams, Leo Gregory and Andy Sarkins did a good job. On the whole, Wild Bill is a very good entertaining movie with heart. Watch it! c

this guys can do everything it seems!! not only did he do sterling work in the Harry Brown film but here he takes centre stage and owns it! Charlie has been a musician amidst his acting career and is also in a band called NORTH OF PING PONG which won the peoples music awards in 2010. They were fortunate to have Adam Smith direct their first two hits "What goes up must come down" and 'Lairy Bitch Project' which featured Cathy Burke and many other famous English actors and actresses. The first album has been in the making for some time so as to develop their sound to encorporate other influences, such as Latin. The Album is due to release end of November 2012.. and they are performing for first time since this WILD BILL film at SWERVED 19 October http://www.facebook.com/events/435892143119493/

Since Guy Ritchie's 1998 feature debut Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, British drama has been obsessed with clichéd gangster movies. They're relatively low cost to make, quick turnaround shoots with huge box office opportunity. Stylistically a mixture of fifties kitchen sink drama and the angry young men fronted British New Wave, the genre today has quickly become an outmoded self-parody, in desperate need of revitalising. Along comes venerable actor Dexter Fletcher. Rising from the fag ash of Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, his first foray into filmmaking takes the same hackneyed themes of…Hackney, and tells a new story full of satire, sincerity and heart.

After eight years behind bars, "Wild Bill" Hayward (Charlie Creed-Miles) returns home to his family in their tower block home. The wife is nowhere to be seen, abandoning their two children – paternal teenager Dean (Will Poulter) and his potty mouthed brother Jimmy (Sammy Williams) – for the sunny sights of Spain with her new boyfriend.

A tough nestle back in to normality, the broken home soon leads to social services reps (Jaime Winstone and Jason Flemyng) asking questions. They fend them off by pretending to play happy families, but the bossy Dean tells his work-shy dad to go straight and get a job. Doing porridge has changed the ex-drug dealer, but unfortunately the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as Jimmy is accosted by local thug Terry (Leo Gregory) as a drug mule. Fighting for his freedom on the outside, Bill steps back in to the game, saving his son and taking a quick crash course on parenthood in the process.

Whilst the story is far from revolutionary, Fletcher and his writing partner Danny King have crafted a truly excellent script, which is neither excessively ghettoized, nor saccharine. The good works lead to good performances too, particularly from Son of Rambow's Bill Poultner, showing great range as the apathetic teenager turned surrogate father figure. Virtually a non-budget movie, it's clear that Fletcher went through the phonebook and asked for a few favours of his supporting cast. Everyone's here: the compelling Olivia Williams as the concerned social worker, Sean Pertwee as the no-nonsense constable who through Bill in the slammer those eight years ago and, best of all, Andy Serkis puts down the motion capture play things for a menacing performance as an East London mafioso. I wish he put down the motion capture play things and started doing more straight-up screen performances; his animated face-acting is always a scene stealer.

Unfortunately there is some duds amongst all the finite work. Misfits' Iwan Rhoen is insufferable as a slang-tastic hoodlum – so much that he even starts to annoy his co-stars. Newcomer Liz White's turn as an abused call girl is too flippant and lacks character depth. The biggest disappointment comes from Wild Bill himself. Sublime as a drugged-up Billy incarnate in Gary Oldman's Nil by Mouth, he is too emotionally uncharged throughout.

Evenstill, it's still a brilliant debut from Fletcher. Working on film sets since the young age of ten when he played Baby Face in Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone, he clearly has a deep insight of how to craft a story, shoot a scene and carve out some solid performances. All that, plus a great ska fever soundtrack and the best pub-fight sequence since Shaun of the Dead. It's as good as a gangster film can get. Let's hope he puts down the faux-Burberry scarves and trade them in for invigorated, ambitious new material.

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Rare do films slip past my radar like this, but a netflix research project where I listed about 10-fairly well-received films that I hadn't seen, led me to watch "Wild Bill".

The formula is rather simple, and certainly nothing we haven't seen before, but then why in the heck does this work so well?

So only super-mild spoilers here in a 1 sentence synopsis;nothing you couldn't have gathered from reading the plot summary above. Bill returns home from a 8-year prison stint to find his two sons living unsupervised.

What makes "Wild Bill" work so well is the characters and their journeys. Bill, his eldest son, the youngest(Jimmy), and Bill's girlfriend all go through serious changes in the film. Every character-arc fits perfectly into the film's storyline, and the acting is spot-on to boot. Nothing seems forced or unrealistic.

Another great thing about the movie is the ending. It really builds towards a crescendo, and the ending is bittersweet. There's something magical about the emotional scene late in the film where Bill has no other choice, just the primal instinct to protect his boys.

At a point midway through the film, something clicks with Bill. We see two boys believing they were men when they really weren't, and one man not realizing how to be one until the moment when he recognized what was actually worth living for..

"Wild Bill" is a soulful, heart-breaking and mending story with some solid performances, a nice soundtrack, and great ending.

It's a Full Monty meets Green Street Hooligans, and it's every bit as good as both.

HIGhly recommended.

78/100

I watched this movie yesterday and wow, what a gem of a movie. I had never heard of the movie before but it popped up on my screen on Netflix and after reading the synopsis I thought, to give it a try. I have a habit to start watching a movie and the moment it becomes retarded, depressing or insults my intelligence in some fashion it's usually over and I do not bother to watch till the end. I actually was expecting this to happen on this movie because the subject seemed to be depressing but to my surprise the movie just gripped me and held me in my seat until the end. Today I was still thinking about the movie and how great and uplifting it was to watch. Congratulations, well done for this great movie.

Missed the first few minutes of this debut film as I was channel surfing the other night. Don't usually like missing the beginnings of a film but for once I stayed put. I wasn't disappointed, on the contrary, it made my night.

Performances given by the cast on a whole is praiseworthy, notables are the maturing Will Poulter, good to see, as my recollection of him was as a talented rapscallion in sketches from School of Comedy. Liz White as Roxy, giving a golden heart to a considered flawed character. Charlie Creed-Miles, with the words of Danny King and the director himself, Dexter Fletcher, puts every father in a position, a crossroads. A capturing performance from Charlie that is top notch, even towards the end of the film I was calibrating him towards a young Day-Lewis.

Enjoy this film, it's skylines, The Carpenters Arms Estate and the added bonus of seeing a few familiar faces adding to the punch this film packs. Storytelling, Brit style. Love it. Beautiful end credit.

Pass that on to Babyface ;-)