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Filth
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02:04
Filth
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- 2013
- Jon S Baird
- 93 mins
- 18
Summary
Comedy drama based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, starring James McAvoy. Corrupt police officer Bruce Robertson will stop at nothing to attain the promotion he thinks is coming his way, including the moral destruction of his colleagues. But with a debilitating drink and drugs habit plus a personality disorder, Bruce has to fight a host of inner demons first.
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IMDB
Review
A star rating of 4 out of 5.
Andrew Collins
Irvine Welsh is a prolific author whose seamy, invective-strewn novels have largely remained unfilmed and are even regarded as "unfilmable" - with the honourable exception of symbolic "Cool Britannia" smash Trainspotting. Filth, in which misanthropic, bipolar Edinburgh detective Bruce Robertson descends into a hell of drink, drugs and debasement, could have been a case in point. But writer/director Jon S Baird has successfully streamlined a near-Shakespearean comic tragedy out of the novel's stream-of-semi-consciousness narrative. Through the counterintuitive casting of "good guy" James McAvoy in the central role and some new fantasy elements, the depravity, duplicity and, yes, downright filth may just about get a broad-minded audience onside. A top-flight supporting cast (including Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan and Imogen Poots) further raises the palatability of what remains a deeply unpleasant journey. It won't be for everyone, as Baird pulls no punches with the rough sex, drug abuse, political incorrectness and human cruelty, but McAvoy gives a vanity-free performance that may well be the crowning glory of his career.
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7.0/10
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Credits
Cast
rolenameDetective Sergeant Bruce RobertsonJames McAvoyRay "Raymundo" LennoxJamie BellAmanda DrummondImogen PootsMaryJoanne FroggattDr RossiJim BroadbentBuntyShirley HendersonClifford "Bladesey" BladesEddie MarsanPeter InglisEmun ElliottGormanMartin CompstonGus BainGary LewisCaroleShauna MacdonaldChief Inspector Bob ToalJohn SessionsDougie GillmanBrian McCardieOckyIain De CaesteckerChrissieKate DickiePunterDavid SoulSize QueenPollyanna McIntoshHectorRon Donachie
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Crew
rolenameDirectorJon S Baird
Details
Theatrical distributor
Lions Gate UK Ltd
Released on
2013-10-04
Languages
English | German
Guidance
Violence, swearing, drug abuse, sex scenes, nudity.
Available on
DVD and Blu-ray
Formats
Colour
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