Bellman and True Movie Review

Bellman and True, a British thriller produced by George Harrison, is a bare-bones crime saga about computers, blood, and money, with a no-star cast and senseless characters. At one point, one crook tells another not to try to be Michael Caine, but in fact, Caine or Bob Hoskins or Peter O'Toole might be just what the doctor ordered to punch up this movie. I say “might be,” because a magnetic star would still have to contend with novelist Desmond Lowden's script, which he wrote with director Richard Loncraine. What's supposed to be unusual about this story is that its central character, invisibly played by Bernard Hill, presumably cares about his young stepson, Kieran O'Brien. However, he's constantly endangering the kid's life and exposing him to vicious gangsters. There's a woman in the plot, Frances Tomelty, but she makes even less sense than the men. (Footnote: Bernard Hill played John Lennon in the 1974 Willy Russell musical, John, Paul, George, Ringo…and Bert opposite Trevor Eve as Paul McCartney, Phillip Joseph as George Harrison, and Antony Sher as Ringo Starr.)

1988 (R) 112m/C GB Bernard Hill, Kieran O'Brien, Richard Hope, Frances Tomelty, Derek Newark, John Kavanagh, Ken Bones; D: Richard Loncraine; W: Richard Loncraine, Desmond Lowden; C: Ken West-bury; M: Colin Towns. VHS