The Liability.

This rather enjoyable Tarantinoesque low budget punchy British comedy thriller started life some 15 years ago as a screenwriting project for film critic John Wrathall something he shelved for many years. When he finally got around bring it to fruition in 2012 he completely rewrote the screenplay. Shot in Northumberland in four weeks and set in the North East of England it comprises a cracking cast which includes Tim Roth, Jack O'Connell, recently seen in Tower Block (2012), Movie Ramble's old friend Peter Mullan, Talulah Riley and ex EastEnders regular Kierston Wareing whom film goers may know from Ken Loach’s It’s a Free World (2007) and Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank (2009).

 

Peter doing what Peter does best, although I'm not sure if Kierston appreciate's it?

The Numpty and the Hit Man.

Director Craig Viveiros far-fetched crime drama develops some pretty explicit violence but in a very casual ‘off hand way' that is both comedic and brutal at the same time. The Liability (2013) of the title is a young 19 year old numpty called Adam (enjoyable played by Jack O'Connell) who we first meet writing of a £60k Mercedes C-Class that belongs to his mothers (Wareing) gangster boyfriend (a menacing Peter Mullan doing what Peter Mullan does best). Under the pretext of getting the lad to repay the 60 grand he gets him a driving job with a hit man called Roy (ironically played by an excellent Tim Roth) who is about to carry out his final job before retirement and attending his daughters wedding. At the same time as this murderous pair are traveling north there is a psycho on the loose carrying out a spate of killings by hacking off the hands of the victims. When Roy and Adam catch up to their quarry they also hack his hand’s off to make it resemble the work of the psycho and hopefully send the police on off on the wrong track. But while their carrying out their gruesome task they get spotted by a passing backpacker (Riley), which sets in motion a series of unexpected events. A truly guilty pleasure!

Is this the end for our young backpacker?