Disappointment for a huge fan!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

'Bullet Boy' is an understated drama about an ex-convict trying to go straight in London's black community. The piece is nicely assembled and acted, and makes good visual use of its Hackney setting, but there's nothing in the story which is ultimately surprising. I also have one quibble: the film features a fair amount of gun usage, but we don't see any underlying criminal activity, which is (I think) usually the root cause of shootings. On the other hand, one strength is that the world of the characters is not depicted as a squalid ghetto, but rather as a place in which one can imagine real people living in. Overall, this is not a bad film; but it is a little bland.

The most immediate thing that struck me about this film was it's perfect imitation of life - unbelievably believable, this move was EXACTLY like life is like, the accents perfect, the language appropriate, the whole story fantastic. I agree that if you do not live in London or at least have contact to the underground world you may not understand the movie very well, but rest assured this is a milestone in a whole genre of English ghetto movies - if you've seen the film 'Juice' starring Tupac Shakur you'll see a lot of connections in structure and plot but at the end of the day it's a unique, brilliant, enjoyable and in my opinion, perfect film.The actors are all skilled to the point where there acting is flawless - the 'bad guy' is not a generic evil psychotic skitzo, but rather just a down to earth nasty person. The hero, Ashley Waters, is lovable, conflicting and effortlessly cool as the friend, Wisdom, is both loyal but annoying at times (just like real friends can be!). The mother is loving and over protective (but not in a boring way, rather a sympathy evoking way which works excellently as she tries soooo hard to hide her pain) and the brother and his friend are both lovable and cool as well. A great film, on par with any Americano film, this is up there with Snatch, Lock Stock, Layer Cake and Trainspotting - it's different from all of them, but it is about crime and it is set in the slums of London, but rest assured it's original because I can't shake the feeling that stuff like this happens every day - even if it is a fascinating tale of revenge, deceit, horror and love. Ten stars! Go see now!

The main aspect of this production I appreciate is the authenticity and realism (as you could probably tell from the summary). As a black 17 year old who has grown up in "the streets", I took great pleasure in witnessing what I believe to be the FIRST British PRODUCTION to capture the realism when portraying "the streets", with the dialogue being the main feature of that.The way this comment has been written may not lead you to believe that it has been devised by someone that has grown up in similar conditions to the film, so you may be puzzled and think "Why would he bother about how they sound?", the way I speak when with certain friends that I have grown up with is different obviously to the way my education ad A-Level English Literature teachers have taught me to write. Therefore, to see my dialect finally emerge without the creators having to refer to the false "Ali G Handbook on how to talk street' is refreshing.The issues around guns that it is tackling is also refreshing to see, as the government and media tend to create scapegoats and leave the issue at that, rather than explore the roots of why things like guns tend to surface. Although the reasons in Bullet Boy is one of many types of reason, the film has explored it nonetheless.At the Question and Answer session after the screening I saw (involving Producers, Directors and Actors), there were 2 complaints that arose.The first was about the film stereotyping black people, I disagree with this and again have to say it is a true reflection of what happens often throughout many communities.There was also a complaint about the lack of hope. The director replied by informing the audience, the film's purpose was not a preaching device to miraculously change gun violence in the streets. Those weren't his words but I am sure you get the basis. I believe that the balance in Ricky, ex-convict who deep down is a nice person who wants to remain positive but faces many struggles, kills the idea of the film stereotyping. Ricky continuously states that the life he is entangled in isn't the life he wants to live, but makes the choice to keep the gun which sooner or later indirectly results in his death. Not only does the death maintain the realism and prevent a fairytale ending offering a false sense of security, it doesn't glamourise Ricky's choice to keep the gun. Although he is seen to be making attempts to break out of the streets cycle and RELUCTANTLY has the gun...he has it nonetheless.As mentioned before, Ricky's mentality juxtaposed with his actions provides a great balance for avoiding stereotypes in addition to an unrealistic ending.Great film.

Bullet Boy is the sort of film that deserves to be seen by far more people than are, unfortunately, ever likely to see it. It's utterly gripping the whole way through - almost every scene is filled an unbearably tense air of looming tragedy, as events spiral out of control. The cast (a mixture of professionals and non-actors) all give superb, deeply honest performances, most notably Ashley Walters and Claire Perkins.Where most British films that strive for an air of realism fail by simply trying too hard, laying on the "grittiness" far too thick, Bullet Boy always seems completely natural, unforced and unfailingly true-to-life. While it's undeniably a fairly bleak and upsetting tale, the film is never boring, never depressing, never anything less than wholly involving. Crafting something genuinely special with a very limited budget, this is a great feature debut from documentary maker Dibb. You shouldn't see Bullet Boy because it's an "issue" film (although the issue it addresses is extremely important); you should see it because it's a brilliant film.