Sugarhouse
- Rating:R
- Release Date:August 16, 2009
- Distributor:Eagle
- The Film:3.5
- The Disc:1.0
After rigidly upper-class Horatio (Steven Mackintosh) attempts to buy a gun off crackhead D...
After rigidly upper-class Horatio (Steven Mackintosh) attempts to buy a gun off crackhead D (Ashley Walters), things quickly fall apart when the weapon's rightful owner, Hoodwink (Andy Serkis), seeks its return.
Based on a highly acclaimed stage play by Dominic Leyton, Sugarhouse employs the single location of a deserted warehouse, so if you're expecting high octane car chases, you'll be sorely disappointed. The strength of the movie, however, lies in the three leads' stunning, and very different, performances. As the seemingly dim witted Horatio, Mackintosh effectively hints at a much darker side and agenda; Serkis (Lord Of The Rings' Gollum) delivers a terrifying portrayal of an Irish hard man and drug dealer; and Ashley Walters steals virtually every scene he's in as the hopeless anti-hero, failed by the system and forgotten by society.
While a couple of subplots are touched upon - most notably Hoodwink's organisation of local kids (including Adulthood's Adam Deacon) into street dealers - Sugarhouse is essentially a confined and claustrophobic character study. At times, the theme of "violence breeds violence" is a little obvious and overstated, but the movie is held together by the ever shifting dynamic between the three leads, their scintillating chemistry, and the bristling, no-nonsense dialogue.
