An Irishman, a Bostonian and a man with “what the f**k is that accent?” walk into a warehouse to conduct a cash-for-arms deal. “F**k the small talk,” says IRA henchman Chris (Cillian Murphy) to his beefcake counterpart Ord (Armie Hammer). “Let’s by some guns, ay?”

Problem #1 the wrong guns turn up. Problem #2 Chris’s lackey Stevo (Sam Riley) recognises Ord’s lackey Harry (Jack Reynor) as the cousin of a woman he glassed the previous might. Problem #3 Harry recognises Stevo and all hell breaks loose in the shape of a one-hour Gunfight at the not so O.K. Corral in which all but one of the dirty dozen survive.

But for a short scene at the beginning, the action by British director Ben Wheatley and his co-writer Amy Jump who penned his last two films High-Rise and A Field In England takes place in one location: a dimly-lit warehouse in Boston. And after Ord follows Chris’s advice to “f**k” the small talk, the plot grinds to a halt for the mother of all shoot-outs.

But the dialogue is delicious and ricochets just as fast and frequently as the endless stream of bullets emanating from the smoking guns of the oddball criminals including Sharlto Copley as the zany South African “Vern and learn, baby” and Brie Larson as “we can’t all be nice girls” Justine.

Sure, it gets a bit repetitive at times. But it doesn’t take itself too seriously and the soundtrack by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow and composer Ben Salisbury who had previously joined forces on Alex Garland’s Ex Machina and the British television series Black Mirror is a riot. Switch off the brain and enjoy the ride! It’s not free, but it’s on fire!

Video courtesy of: A24

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Peter Callaghan
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