Directed by:
Ronny YuScreenplay:
Stel PavlouCinematography:
Hang Sang PoonCast:
Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Meat Loaf, Barbara Barnes, Mac McDonald, Sean Pertwee, Rhys Ifans, Anna Keaveney, Ricky Tomlinson (more)Plots(1)
Kilt-wearing master chemist Elmo McElroy (Samuel L. Jackson) has developed a new drug that is more potent then cocaine or Ecstasy. Best of all, none of the ingredients are illegal, meaning that this substance could easily be sold worldwide. Unfortunately for McElroy, he is caught in the snare of psychotic drug kingpin The Lizard (Meat Loaf). McElroy's attempts to escape his boss and start a new life land him in Liverpool, England, where he encounters Felix DeSouza (Robert Carlyle), the America-hating henchman of a local drug lord. De Souza and McElroy find themselves on a wild, dangerous ride as they try to make a deal that will net them some major cash and give them a chance to start over. In the meantime, Dakota (Emily Mortimer)--a beautiful assassin who happens to be DeSouza's ex-girlfriend--is sent by The Lizard to kill McElroy, but ends up becoming his guardian angel. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (5)
Formula 51 is a fantastic, almost old-school action flick filled with a bunch of eccentric characters you just don’t see in modern movies anymore. Samuel L. Jackson as a chemist and creator of a new drug is actually one of the more "normal" ones. But when Robert Carlyle picks him up at the airport and starts rambling about Manchester, only to storm into a pub full of Liverpool fans in a football jersey, you realize this is one of those unapologetically wild films that defined my childhood. And then there's Rhys Ifans, playing a totally psychotic character. Formula 51 feels like a refreshing mix of Ocean's Eleven with a dash of Guy Ritchie flair.
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Take Pulp Fiction and Snatch, shake, not stir, and pour into a Liverpool glass and this is the outcome. It’s nothing special, but, as entertainment, it’s enough. SLJ is super, and RC no less than divine. The trouble with the fucking Yanks is, they have no fucking sense.
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The inevitable conflict that arises from the mutual confrontation of an American and a Brit is a perfect basis for the film's main theme. The script, as in similar films, is not the most important thing. All responsibility is placed on the shoulders of the director and the actors. Unlike the cumbersome crossover Freddy vs. Jason, director Ronny Yu took a much more relaxed approach to the film. Jokes on the theme mentioned at the beginning abound. Only a few of those moments, which Yu crowned with a punchline, were many times more entertaining than the entire previous content. Unfortunately, this brings the film down to an average level, despite the likable plot and great performances from the actors (Samuel L. Jackson, along with his naked backside, is defeated by Robert Carlyle's non-stop barrage of insults). However, the mental emptiness and the waste of the potential of the story will rather frustrate than sadden.
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I was greatly entertained. Robert Carlyle's performance was excellent and his great English accent kicked the film up a notch. I’m not saying that the film didn’t have its flaws, but I could see past them.
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Ronny Yu doesn’t know how to work with the detached humor and cynicism that are needed here. The scene in which Samuel L. Jackson throws pills at dancers in a discotheque absolutely kills the film. The characters are slacker assholes who aren’t the slightest bit cool. And the director wants us to sympathize with them. There are a lot of jokes, but most of them fall flat. Just getting them out of an actor’s mouth is not enough. The film has dynamics but, without humor and sympathy for the characters, they only accelerate the flow of boredom.
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