SHOT THROUGH THE HEART

REVIEWED - BULLET BOY: SAUL Dibb's nervy, energetic film, which focuses on cycles of revenge within the black communities of inner-city London, is an impressive technical achievement. Featuring an unforced central performance from the charismatic Ashley Walters (also known as Asher D from naughty rap posse So Solid Crew) and a rhythmically demotic script by the director and Catherine Johnson, Bullet Boy manages the tricky business of maintaining cruel amounts of tension without losing its easy, naturalistic feel.

It is, however, a shame that the film-makers couldn't find a fresher story to tell. As in countless westerns and urban thrillers, we follow a young man, recently released from prison, as he tries to escape his past and forge a peaceful future.

Some days after Ricky (Walters) emerges from a Youth Offenders Institute, he is driving about the city with his buddy Wisdom (Leon Black) when they accidentally knock the side mirror off a local hard man's motor. Ricky tries to calm the waters, but, when a pistol makes an appearance, it's clear that some sort of violent catastrophe is going to foul up the film's final act. Will Ricky's younger brother Curtis (Luke Fraser) be caught in the melee?

The picture, throbbing to a sparse score by Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, very effectively recreates life in an environment where the only white faces belong to teachers, policemen and parole officers, and where families are bravely held together by the bloody-minded stubbornness of strong women. (Mind you, those searching for pungent ironies may be interested to hear that this BBC production is directed by a pink penis person.)

But there is a sad inevitability to Bullet Boy. Such a film can really only have one of two endings: either the pattern of violence stretches toward a vanishing point or a brave soul says "No more". I would like to report that the writers have found a third way, but the cycle-movie cycle continues as before.