Simply Perfect

best movie i've ever seen.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

An utterly captivating drama, perfectly executed over four episodes with not a single flaw to be found.Top-notch writing, precision directing, exemplary performances from the entire cast, seamless editing, with music and cinematography that intelligently don't make themselves noticed (so nothing showy or artsy, just excellent scene-setting) perfectly paced with an overall sense of all-round good storytelling.Every moment of this true-life drama was suffused with authenticity, integrity, and verisimilitude, with no audience manipulation to be detected (which doesn't mean it wasn't there; just that it was artfully and subtly done). This is a rare gem that is worth watching more than once, although the subject matter is grim. Top marks.

The shaky cam was so bad my head was spinning and I had to give up less than 7 minutes in. I'm sure I would have been gripped by the story and drama unfolding, and that it was an accurate telling of a senseless crime, but I didn't get the chance to be able to judge that. Why directors insist on using hand held cameras that induce nausea when watching is beyond me.

Few people in the United Kingdom will not have heard of the murder of Rhys Jones, an eleven-year-old boy from a middle-class family in Liverpool killed unintentionally by 16-year-old Sean Mercer, a low- level drug dealer who fired a revolver at two rival gang members over a postcode. It was the innocence of Rhys, a promising child with aspirations of playing for Everton Football Club that brought the attention of the national media on the case. The police were under tremendous pressure to bring the killer and those who supplied the gun to justice while the gang did their best to intimidate potential witnesses and pass off the murder onto a completely innocent party. This superb four-part drama, written by Jeff Pope tells the story of how those involved in both the murder and the concealing of the evidence were eventually brought to trial and the impact that Rhys death had on his parents, the investigating officers, and the local community. Bring the remorseless murderer to trial proved a complex issue, with two innocent families court in the middle of the lies of his alibi. The drama follows three narrative strands - The witness who was forced to hide the gun (an excellent performance from relative newcomer Michael Moran) and the family whose fragile son (An appropriately vulnerable performance from Nathan Clark-Smith) Rhys Parents (Sinead Keenan in her best ever performance as the Mum and Brian F O'Bryne finally getting the sort of meaty role he deserves) and the police investigation team led by Detective Dave Kelly (Stephen Graham whose versatility continues to expand with every performance) and DCI Mark Guinness (The always superb Stephen Walters in a very grounded role)Through these three narratives, we see the extreme pressures everyone was under both to stay in a wall of silence or break the case and bring the killers of Rhys to justice. One of the reasons this drama works so well is because of the generous four episodes, which gives adequate screen time to convey the truthfulness of each characters journey and the actor's performances which makes for a stronger production. It is good to see ITV drama giving this sort of material the running time that it so richly deserves. All the cast here doing a fantastic job including those portraying murderer Mercer his accomplices but the real stand out performance for me was that of the conflicted Kevin Moody (Portrayed by Michael Moran) the one witness the police depended on in order to conflict the intimidating Mercer.I read somewhere that the senior policewoman stated having watched this production that she was displeased with her portrayal in the show. I find it hard to believe that these scenes were in anyway fictional, knowing the pressure they were under to get a result in this case and how the upper echelons of the police always behave in such circumstances. To its credit LLB did not end with the conviction of those involved followed by a brief summary. A good number of scenes were shown after the case, covering the impact on the marriage of the parents and the other lives affected by the actions of Mercer. It is incredulous that the killer and his accomplices (Most of whom are now out of prison) had no remorse for the killing of Rhys whatsoever and it is this vagrant display of complete lack of empathy for causing the loss of life which makes this show have such wider viewing implications beyond the case it deals with. As Mrs Rhys says at one point 'Our Rhys was not in the wrong place at the wrong time, Sean Mercer was when he fired that gun' Essential and compelling viewing and an outstanding credit for everyone who worked on the production.

I remember when Rhys was shot, the incident this drama is about, and it was an awful event and anybody who was aware of the case at the time will have no surprises with this drama. There was plenty of controversy over the whole event from poor Rhys' death, his family's strength, the age of the killers and the frustrating and seemingly all encompassing hurdle of getting witnesses to "grass".All of the above is covered sensitively and, with the Jones' giving their input to this drama, a fair degree of accuracy too. You obviously feel for the victim and his family but this drama also shines a light on peer pressure, the difficulty of getting someone to agree to be a witness due to the stigma and dangers of being a " grass" and the shameful enabling and apathetic attitude of some of the suspects' parents.Whether someone is aware of the case or not this is an interesting, gripping and emotive drama. You can't watch this and leave it not feeling anything. Utterly heartbreaking. RIP Rhys Jones.