Released on digital platforms from Monday 28th July, Reputation is the feature debut from Martin Law. Its star is James Nelson-Joyce, a Liverpudlian actor who, after some solid supporting work – in productions such as Jimmy McGovern’s Time, Stephen Merchant’s Outlaws, Steven Knight’s A Thousand Blows, and the Brink’s Mat robbery drama The Gold – has emphatically entered the public consciousness with his lead performance in the recent BBC1 crime drama This City is Ours. Indeed, within the first couple of episodes of that series being broadcast, Nelson-Joyce was being talked about as the next James Bond. Such rising star status can only help Law’s film, which is a micro-budget affair with some big things to say about toxic masculinity.
Nelson-Joyce stars as Wes, a small-time drug dealer in the fictional town of Dennings in the very real Accrington in the North West of England. As the movie starts, we get a sense that Wes is finding himself at a crossroads; blissfully in love with Zoe (Olivia Frances Brown) and with a new-born baby together, it’s clear that Wes is aware that family life will one day have to supersede and take priority from the life of crime he’s endured thus far. Unfortunately for him, this epiphany arrives at the exact same moment that his old friend, and literal partner-in-crime, Tommy (Kyle Rowe) is released from the gaol. It quickly becomes clear that this reunion is going to throw a spanner in the works, as Tommy is a volatile, unpredictable and deeply unpleasant individual whose fervent desire is to escalate, rather than decrease or conclude, their criminal activities.
Reputation therefore follows a familiar and predictable narrative, namely that of a criminal desperate to reform yet finding himself unable to escape the bind that derives from misplaced loyalties and old habits. However, what keeps Law’s movie fresh is the well handled friction between the two central characters. An eminently watchable actor, Nelson-Joyce emphatically sells a character who begins to see his old friend for what he truly is. The tension of the narrative exists in his determination to extricate himself from his old life and his fight for the new one he so craves. It’s not an unfamiliar role for the Scouse actor, in fact it pretty much echoes much of his breakout role in This City is Ours, but he commits to the challenge one hundred percent here, delivering a nuanced performance that serves as the heart of the film, knowing when to sit in the silence and when to let go with consummate skill.
As a filmmaker, Law delivers some uncompromising material with an unflinching manner… A potent debut that defies its low budget
In contrast, Kyle Rowe’s Tommy initially feels like a caricature; with his Gallagher-esque simian stroll, slack jawed sourness, and chip-pan greasy fringe, he is an ignorant, loudmouth bully that is repeatedly shown as quick to lash out at anything or anyone who appears to have, or want, something different to his own understanding of what life is all about. Yet, as we spend more time with him, I realised the old adage that there is always truth in the cliche, and Tommy reminded me of many people I grew up with in a similar Lancastrian/Merseyside town – not that far from Accrington, in fact – who I made a point of diverting my own path from.
The decision to base the action in Accrington, rather than somewhere like Liverpool or Manchester, is an assured one from Law and his co-writers, Jordan Derbyshire and Dean Gregson, as it makes it clear that the likes of Wes and Tommy are big fishes in a small pond. This makes Tommy’s white-knuckle-gripped commitment to preserve what he views as his achievements or his titular reputation within the town just as believable as Wes’ realisation that it’s all just a mug’s game. Shot in a cold, dour palette, this battle of ideological opposites is an unbearably tense viewing experience, threatening to topple over into horrific violence at every turn – an impending turf war in a town that no one else really gives much of a thought for. It just adds to the futility of it all, really. If I had one specific complaint though, it’s that the film is so absolutely focused on its central protagonist and antagonist that the supporting characters often feel like an afterthought and fail to make the same kind of impression.
As a filmmaker, Law delivers some uncompromising material with an unflinching manner. Reputation is a gritty, downbeat affair that thankfully doesn’t outstay its welcome at just 80 minutes. I suspect that, for many, that’s more than enough time to spend with its intense and bleakly told subject matter. A potent debut that defies its low budget, Reputation is available on Sky Store, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and YouTube Movies.
Reputation is On digital 28 July from Miracle Media
