The Big Ugly

It's very intense... [And] very interesting politics.

I was more intrigued by the supporting players, a colorful array of wrong-side-of-the-law types

Boozing, brawling and tedium.

The preponderance of middle-aged men doesn't help: world-weary, seasoned villains they may be, but you wouldn't bank on any of them breaking into a sprint without pulling something.

Booze-soaked nonsense that romanticises practically medieval notions of honour.

A few craggy teardrops and a convincingly taken beatdown aren't necessarily going to perk ears up at Oscar headquarters for Vinnie Jones. Then again, in 2020...who knows?

The characters are prisoners of fate but the film is more poignant because they know this isn't how things have to be.

The Big Ugly doesn't "move," it just sits there on the screen

The Big Ugly isn't an unwatchable film. It's just a very forgettable and derivative film that tries to be very lofty and serious-minded, as if it's pretending that it's not a substandard B-movie.

Some noir-style visual flourishes can't rescue the formulaic screenplay, which downplays the violent confrontations yet never musters sufficient tension or finds enough sympathy in its collection of schemers and scoundrels.