The Veteran

The Veteran

We can’t help but feel echoes of Taxi Driver in Robert Miller, the main character played by Toby Kebbell, who is a former soldier in the Afghanistan War and now has moved back to London, where he has to deal with PTSD. It’s not at all ideal as he finds himself in rough neighborhood controlled by the drug lord, Tyrone (Ashley Bashy Thomas), who has other plans for Miller getting him on as an enforcer for his gang. He seems to be a lost case and aimless about his life until he bumps into an old Army buddy and agrees to assist two shady government agents (Tony Curran and Brian Cox) in some undercover work. He soon realizes, (surprise, surprise) once again he is a soldier and must learn to think and act like one.

The Veteran is a gripping thriller that is surprisingly engaging, even though it suffers from obvious low-budget restrictions. There are also some really solid performances from Kebbell who is clearly comfortable in the lead role. Some years ago the actor made an impression as the younger mentally challenged brother to Paddy Considine in 2004’s Dead Man’s Shoe’s and like the older sibling in that movie, Kebbell in this picture also doesn’t shy away from acting emotionally volatile characters but has to repress his emotions on the outside.

Some of the secondary roles are also convincingly played by the rest of the supporting cast. Thomas is convincing without resorting to cliched gangster theatrics in his menacing performance, Curran is also good, and even Cox in an extended cameo, quite apart from limited screen time, still creates a strong enduring impression.

The minimalist, hand held gritty style of shooting adds realism to the film whilst two intertwining storylines are interesting enough before they finally blend together towards the end where a thrilling but hard to believe three way shootout is a cross between mini-Heat set in London.

Shaping this battle is a strong and menacing electronic score, directing Matthew Hope does achieve the sense of unease within, and like the previously mentioned gun fight, is quite skilled in helming action scenes of a large(ish) scale and even does the sober and more reflective character arcs well too. Produced into one gripping and visceral rib breaking force of struggle and fight to the death, Kebbell himself engages with an assailant in a river, which vividly evokes the seedy world of Get Carter. And it’s refreshing as well to witness a UK genre piece with a slight political stripe.

It is regrettable the most predictable scenario, i.e. the expose of the conspiracy resulting in the flick being classified as some sort of fantasy towards the final part, devaluating some good work which has gone before it and out of step with the myriad of social and political issues that it incorporated before. The ending too, even though it is completely unforgiving and unyielding in its tone of despair, could be termed as ‘rushed’ and it completely lacks a pleasing coda.

However, the film possesses a great deal of appealing features and will certainly make a warm transition on DVD disc. Although it will likely be sold as a “violent” and “explosive” shoot’ up in the pages of lad’s mags, it is obvious that there is something more than that in the content of the film, and as for the second film it most definitely makes Mr. Hope’s name of a director worth speaking about in the future.

For more movies Visit Gomovies.