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The Top 50 Best British Crime Movies – Part 4:
Counting down 20 to 11
20 – Wild Bill (2011)
He’s the meanest wanker in town
Drama
IMDb: 7.2
RT Audience: 8.2
Letterboxd: 7.02
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7.47 /10
DIRECTED BY: Dexter Fletcher
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
Bill has been released from prison to find that his wife has left their two sons to fend for themselves. Bill isn’t interested in playing dad until his son threatens to grass him up and say that he’s drug dealing. He agrees to stay for a week to fool social services.
19 – The Firm (1989)
We come in peace, we leave you in pieces
Crime  |  Drama  |  TV Movie
IMDb: 7.2
RT Audience: 8.1
Letterboxd: 7.30
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7.53 /10
DIRECTED BY: Alan Clarke
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
t stars Gary Oldman, Lesley Manville, Phil Davis, Charles Lawson and Steve McFadden in his acting debut. The film is based on the activities of the Inter City Firm (billed as the “Inter City Crew”) football firm of West Ham United during the 1970s and 1980s. The film, which courted controversy on release, has come to be regarded among the finest films on the subject of football hooliganism. It is notable for having almost no musical score or diegetic music, save for Dean Martin’s rendition of “That’s Amore” over the opening titles. Oldman’s performance has been hailed as one of the greatest of his career.
18 – Green Street Hooligans (2005)
Just think of someone you hate.
Crime  |  Drama
IMDb: 7.4
RT Audience: 8.7
Letterboxd: 6.54
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7.55 /10
DIRECTED BY: Lexi Alexander
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
American journalism student Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) moves in with his sister and her family in London. There, he meets football hooligan Pete Dunham (Charlie Hunnam), who introduces him to his rough tribal world, where supporters of opposing teams battle each other before and after games. But Pete’s lieutenant, Bovver (Leo Gregory), suspects Matt’s motives and inadvertently reopens a years-old rivalry between Pete’s brother (Marc Warren) and the leader of a rival gang (Geoff Bell).
17 – Layer Cake (2004)
From The Producer of Lock, Stock & Snatch
Crime  |  Drama  |  Thriller
IMDb: 7.3
RT Audience: 8.5
Letterboxd: 6.92
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7.57 /10
DIRECTED BY: Matthew Vaughn
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
An unnamed mid-level cocaine dealer (Daniel Craig) in London makes plans to step away from the criminal life. Before he can cut ties, the dealer’s supplier Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) draws him into a complicated pair of jobs involving kidnapping the teenage daughter of a rival gangster (Michael Gambon) and brokering the purchase of a large shipment of ecstasy pills from a dealer known as “the Duke” (Jamie Foreman), leading to a series of elaborate double-crosses from all corners.
16 – Mona Lisa (1986)
Sometimes love is a strange and wicked game.
Crime  |  Drama  |  Romance
IMDb: 7.3
RT Audience: 8.1
Letterboxd: 7.40
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7.60 /10
DIRECTED BY: Neil Jordan
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
George is a small-time crook just out of prison who discovers his tough-guy image is out of date. Reduced to working as a minder/driver for high class call girl Simone, he has to agree when she asks him to find a young colleague from her King’s Cross days. That’s when George’s troubles just start.
15 – The Italian Job (1969)
Introducing the plans for a new business venture.
Action  |  Crime  |  Comedy  |  Thriller
IMDb: 7.2
RT Audience: 8.6
Letterboxd: 7.04
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7.61 /10
DIRECTED BY: Peter Collinson
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
Charlie’s got a ‘job’ to do. Having just left prison he finds one his of friends has attempted a high risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie’s friend doesn’t get very far, so Charlie takes over the ‘job’. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.
14 – Made in Britain (1982)
Trevor is an angry young man.
Crime  |  Drama |   TV Movie
IMDb: 7.3
RT Audience: 8.4
Letterboxd: 7.34
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7.68 /10
DIRECTED BY: Alan Clarke
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
After being sent to a detention center, a teenage skinhead clashes with the social workers, who want to conform him to the status quo. After being sent to a detention center, a teenage skinhead clashes with the social workers, who want to conform him to the status quo.
13 – Sexy Beast (2000)
Yes or yes?
Crime  |  Drama  |  Thriller
IMDb: 7.2
RT Audience: 8.5
Letterboxd: 7.52
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7.74 /10
DIRECTED BY:  Jonathan Glazer
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
Ex-safecracker Gal Dove has served his time behind bars and is blissfully retired to a Spanish villa paradise with a wife he adores. The idyll is shattered by the arrival of his nemesis Don Logan, intent on persuading Gal to return to London for one last big job.
12 – Starred Up (2013)
We’re all different on the inside.
Drama
IMDb: 7.3
RT Audience: 8.4
Letterboxd: 7.54
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7.75 /10
DIRECTED BY:   David Mackenzie
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
19-year-old Eric, arrogant and ultra-violent, is prematurely transferred to the same adult prison facility as his estranged father. As his explosive temper quickly finds him enemies in both prison authorities and fellow inmates — and his already volatile relationship with his father is pushed past breaking point — Eric is approached by a volunteer psychotherapist, who runs an anger management group for prisoners. Torn between gang politics, prison corruption, and a glimmer of something better, Eric finds himself in a fight for his own life, unsure if his own father is there to protect him or join in punishing him.
11 – Get Carter (1971)
What happens when a professional killer violates the code? Get Carter!
Crime  |  Thriller
IMDb: 7.4
RT Audience: 8.5
Letterboxd: 7.34
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7.75 /10
DIRECTED BY:  Mike Hodges
TOP BILLED CAST:
SYNOPSIS:
Jack Carter is a small-time hood working in London. When word reaches him of his brother’s death, he travels to Newcastle to attend the funeral. Refusing to accept the police report of suicide, Carter seeks out his brother’s friends and acquaintances to learn who murdered his sibling and why.
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