ianlouisiana Review of Shifty

Shifty (2008)

A bit of style,not much substance, but for 100grand,pretty good

[6/10 · 24 August 2009]

Just like a tyro musician who can impress with a few cool-sounding licks, young director Eran Creevey flatters to deceive in "Shifty".The neat tricks are there,the veneer of newly-learned techniques rapidly absorbed,but beneath the facade of cinematic urban grit there isn't actually much depth.The movie is yet another look at the drug underclass,all of whom,apparently,are living lives of rather noisy but cinematic desperation. Set in some hellhole (but grittily photogenic)outpost of the East London/Essex border country,it features a Muslim drug dealer as he goes about his daily business and his old schoolfriend who is trying to persuade his pal to mend his ways.They meet all kinds of strange(but grittily photogenic) characters.Er,that's about it,really. Although decidedly 21st century in content and context,"Shifty" can be traced back to "Cathy come home" from the 1960s and even earlier attempts to depict the hopelessness and misery (albeit grittily photogenic)of the lives of many inhabitants of this fair isle. Indeed it would appear that life for some is worse now than it was then but at least we've got guys like Shifty to ease our burden.Back then we left the pram outside the "Dog and Duck",drank ourselves senseless then staggered home to beat the hell out of the wife.Now,thanks to our friendly local pusher,we need never leave the privacy of our homes.Thank God for progress. It is remarkable that "Shifty" was made for £100,000.I congratulate all concerned most sincerely on their achievement.I hope Eran Creevey doesn't disappear down the black hole marked "MTV videos",I really do. However,having said all that,I would be less than honest to be praising it unreservedly.It is what it is - a promising movie debut,no more,no less.