by Old King Clancy

I’ve been a fan of Ben Wheatley ever since ‘A Field In England’ blew my mind to such a degree that I still can’t properly define the experience. To that end I think it’s safe to say that Free Fire is his most commercial film to date. Actually that sounds way too pretentious, basically this is the first Wheatley film I’ve seen that doesn’t feel like a Wheatley film, but that doesn’t make it a bad film. Free Fire takes the Reservoir Dogs formula of greedy idiots with guns stuck in a warehouse and rolls with it, ending up with a fun and energetic little piece that brings out a great ensemble piece.

Set in 1970s Boston, the film finds two IRA members, Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley), teaming up with Frank’s junkie brother-in-law Steve-O (Sam Riley)and his friend Bernie (Enzo Cilenti)to help buy guns from South African arms dealer Vernon (Shalto Copley) and his partners; ex-black panther Martin (Babou Ceesay)and dope-smoking middle-man Ord (Armie Hammer) with third-party Justine (Brie Larson) acting as intermediary. To Frank’s anger, Steve-O got into a fight earlier that day and has been left with a black eye.

The deal goes down but not without its problems, Frank is openly hostile to Ord, Vernon’s ego gets in the way and Chris claims that the guns being sold to him aren’t what he ordered. Despite the hostilities a deal is made and money switches hands, that is until Steve-O realises that Vernon’s driver Harry (Jack Reynor) is the man who beat him up earlier that day for bottling Harry’s cousin after she wouldn’t put out. The already on-edge deal gets put under even more pressure when Steve-O brags to Harry about what he did, forcing Harry to fire the first bullet.

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