Rated 7/10Very enjoyable, solid heist movie... on a submarine.
...albeit a fairly basic set up - a dozen men in a rusty tube at crush depth getting progressively twitchy and suspicious of each other - Half Russian (because the sub is Russian) half British (because the film is British) makes for some tension and misunderstanding through perhaps some general stereotypes.
It has too much to live up to in either genre really, both in heist movies, and the world of submarine movies, and so falls a little short if judged by those standards, and the only real gripes are the usual common sense oversights with regards to the solutions to one or two of the problems they face (Why move a couple of tons of gold all at once, when you can move it brick(s) at a time while the crew make repairs?), and the conspicuous absence of any tangible sign of any external potential adversary (although they continually allude to it - budget constraints, of course)...
...but at least this doesn't resort to turning it into some kind of half baked monster movie to resolve the plot, as increasingly happens these days with many more expensive productions around this dozen dudes in a box theme (Sunshine) when they find they've dug too deep a hole to get out of plot wise.
Jude the dude Law is not someone I usually have time for, but is great here, and the film is most enjoyable.
Will be intrigued to watch this tonight on Film 4, if only to see the once-upon-a-Soviet-death-machine submarine, which is a very real old bucket, currently turning puce with rust in the River Medway, right next to the bridges...
...and which I believe some renovations to which, may have been paid for by inclusion in this film...
(including the silver nose bit, which previously wasn't there, and is probably why it now at least stands upright in the water, as opposed to the near 30 degree lean it used to have)
You can view this beastie for yourself on Google Street View - Canal Road - Strood (UK).