Danny Dyer stars in new film Marching Powder directed by Nick Love (The Football Factory, Goodbye Charlie Bright, The Firm). Dyer plays the lead character Jack, who has six weeks to get his life together following his arrest. With themes of violence and hooliganism that call back to ’00s British cinema like The Football Factory, Dáire and Seán from Phoenix Film share their thoughts below.
Dáire’s review
Jack, played quite versatilely by Danny Dyer, is our loud and proud lead in writer/director Nick Love’s newest film Marching Powder. A middle-aged football hooligan, past his and the fad’s peak, who after a lifetime of drugs and violence is facing prison and has six weeks to turn his life around. No more drink, no more cocaine, no more messing around with the lads. Time to step up, be a father, husband and upstanding member of society (or at least try).
With a brash and laissez-faire comedic styling sorely missing in the contemporary cinematic environment Love’s film shines. It’s also elevated by vibrant and animated graphics throughout. This movie truly indulges in every definition of colourful.
Adding to this Stephanie Leonidas, his wife Dani, is given a well fleshed out dramatic subplot which works in contrast to Jack’s high adrenaline antics. Highlighting how their lives are increasingly sperate, mostly by choice, and what Jack’s continued and damaging actions means for their future, both as a family and for their marriage. While it’s well balanced for the most part, this can lead to times when the comedy and drama clash awkwardly and leaves the audience with mixed feelings and conflicting tones.
Overall this “rom-com with a kick” certainly hits differently and stands out among superhero movies and sombre dramas and is worth watching.
Seán’s review
Starring Danny Dyer as Jack, a middle aged football hooligan who has 6 weeks to turn his life around, fix his marriage and look after his stepbrother Kenny Boy, all while avoiding his old vices of drugs, alcohol and brawling. Marching Powder feels quite unique as it’s a darker and more self aware rom com while also tackling issues of drug abuse, mental illness and class divides.
Through the use of Jack’s narration and fourth wall breaks we gain a unique perspective on our main character while also allowing for some unique comedic moments throughout. This is also shown with the location cards which cover the entire screen and use the character’s name for the location rather than the location’s actual name. Besides Danny Dyer giving a stand out performance in both the comedic and more serious scenes, the rest of the cast also do a great job. Calum MacNab does a great job as Kenny Boy portraying him as a very unstable and violent individual but as he grows closer to Jack we get to see a more vulnerable and tragic side to the character.
Overall I really enjoyed the film. I did feel that towards the latter half it was unsure if it wanted to lean into the rom com aspect between Jack and his wife or Jack’s struggle overcoming his vices and looking after Kenny Boy.
Marching Powder is released in Irish cinemas on March 7th
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