''Bullet Boy'' is a 2004 British

crime drama film In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

directed by

Saul Dibb Saul Dibb (born 18 August 1968) is an English director and screenwriter. His father is the documentary maker Mike Dibb. Born in London, England, Saul Dibb is a graduate of the University of East Anglia. He is best known for co-writing and direc ...

, written by Saul Dibb and Catherine Johnson, and stars Ashley Walters. The film's original music was composed and performed by

Robert Del Naja Robert Del Naja (; born 21 January 1965), also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective the Wild Bunch, and later as a founding member and sole cons ...

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...

, who released it as an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

. The film is about a family in crime-ridden Hackney, East

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the eldest son's involvement in gun crime, and the effects of this on his younger brother.

Plot

Upon being released from prison, Ricky ( Ashley Walters) is collected by Wisdom, an eccentric and naive friend who is desperate to establish himself within their neighbourhood. Immediately after arriving back, Wisdom accidentally breaks a wing mirror off a car belonging to a local gang member. The following confrontation leads to Ricky pulling away Wisdom in an attempt to keep peace. Wisdom later returns a gun to Ricky, who stores it within his bedroom, which is shared with his younger brother Curtis who finds the weapon and hides it away for his brother himself. Wisdom hunts down the gang member, named Godfrey, for spreading word that he does not want to fight, and to get revenge shoots the

Staffordshire bull terrier The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, also called the Staffy or Stafford, is a purebred dog of small to medium size in the terrier group that originated in the northern parts of Birmingham and in the Black Country of Staffordshire, for which it is ...

which Godfrey used to threaten Wisdom during the earlier altercation. As a result, Godfrey and his associate destroy Wisdom's car with a baseball bat and drive past his home shouting that he is "dead." Knowing that Godfrey would soon kill him otherwise, Wisdom tries to kill Godfrey. However, he fails and is seen by Godfrey. As the two flee from here, Curtis accidentally shoots his friend Rio when Rio suggests they take the gun out and play with it. Their mother when she next sees Ricky, asks him to go home, pack his belongings and leave whilst they are at church to give Curtis a chance to avoid the gang lifestyle. Just before heading home, he goes to Wisdom's house to get the money Wisdom told him to take before he left, only to find Wisdom dead, presumably at the hands of his rival, he leaves after sitting there for a long time thinking. As he packs his bags, he asks Curtis to go to the takeaway and get a kebab, and when Curtis returns, his brother has already left. As Ricky is waiting at the train station, mysterious hooded figures are appearing and closing in around Ricky. As Ricky is about to run away, Godfrey comes out and shoots him six times in the chest. His body is later identified, and the film ends with Curtis reclaiming the gun from where he hid it and throwing it into the river.

Cast

* Ashley Walters as Ricky *Luke Fraser as Curtis *Leon Black as Wisdom *

Clare Perkins Clare Perkins (born 18 August 1965) is an English actress who is known for her roles as Denise Boulter in ''Family Affairs'' and Ava Hartman in '' EastEnders''. Career Perkins' first role was as Opal in the 1991 TV film 'Hallelujah Anyhow' in ...

as Beverley * Aaron Breakbeat Fagan as Drummer *

Curtis Walker Curtis Walker is a British actor, writer and stand-up comedian. He starred in BBC comedy shows ''Paramount City'', CBBC sitcom ''Kerching!'', ''The Real McCoy "The real McCoy" is an idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking wo ...

as Leon

Awards and nominations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullet Boy 2004 films BBC Film films Black British cinema Black British films Black British mass media British crime drama films 2004 crime drama films Hood films British independent films Films shot in London Films set in London Films directed by Saul Dibb 2004 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films

Plot

Cast

Awards and nominations

See also

External links