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Directed by Keri Collins
Starring Ray Panthaki, Vicky McClure and Adeel Akhtar
Film Review by Amaliah S. Armon-Halm
★★★
“One Night. Two men. Three hostages. No clue”
I really do love it when a tagline sums up a film so perfectly that it makes me feel like there’s no need to review it…but you’re getting the film review anyway. Ajay (Ray Panthaki) and Shaan (Adeel Akhtar) have found themselves in a real mess. All because Shaan wanted a quiet place to read his book and didn’t take note of a few angry Russian mobsters and some unpaid and confused strippers, meaning their night will take them on a weird and comical series of events.
To cover the fees and avoid a painful beating, the boys plan to come up with the money before the night is out by robbing a petrol station. However, a timed safe stands in their way so they decide that the best plan of action is to tie up the staff and a couple customers and work in the store until the safe is open. What follows involves a suicidal businessman (Anthony Head), a dwarf cowboy (Verne Troyer) and just a series of craziness that glues the film together.
For a film that only cost around £80,000 and was shot over 128 days, this really isn’t a bad comedy movie. There are times when it really seems to be struggling to get a laugh out of the audience, with the usual batch of British slapstick but there are also times when it does seem reminiscent of a black comedy hit like Four Lions (2010).
This is an ideal film if you simply want something to watch whilst eating pizza and having a good little catch up with your buddies, because that seems to be the intention of the filmmakers. If you look at this too seriously, you will most likely be a bit disappointed, as it does seem to parody the heist genre. However, this petrol station heist film is a lot of fun that even has its “n’aww” moments.
Watch the Convenience film trailer below...
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