You may want to redirect your attention elsewhere for this one…

Director: Emilis Velyvis

Cast: Vinnie Jones, Scot Williams

Rating: 18

Running time: 99 mins

Release date: DVD – January 12th.

If Quentin Tarantino’s earlier efforts spawned a slew of insipid imitations to appease the pseudo-hipster crowd – Smokin’ Aces (2006) is one particularly egregious example – then the aping of Guy Ritchie, another prophet of the ‘film buff’, is the transatlantic answer to this unfortunate phenomenon. Enter REDIRECTED.

REDIRECTED’s premise is typical of the comedy-gangster sub-genre. Four ‘comically’ incompetent men botch an armed robbery, make a dash for the airport but due to freak weather, arrive in Lithuania instead of Malaysia.

The opening scenes are signposted with national imagery. From shots of Buckingham Palace guards to BT vans, it’s evident from this montage that REDIRECTED is free of nuance or subtlety. The film’s cartoonish characters are largely interchangeable. Over-acting, poor cockney accents and pedestrian delivery are commonplace. Vinnie Jones‘s phoned-in performance is so predictable that it’s a surprise he doesn’t slip into a trance.

A discerning viewer will quickly realise the level of the film’s humour. None of the jokes are remotely cutting or self-reflective. Stereotypes and their grievances are portrayed unimaginatively and after some tiresome, puerile nods to lad culture; (the raided pub/club is called ‘Big Tits’), the audience is subjected to a series of quaint, self-deprecating set-pieces. The figure of fun is Lithuanian culture; its boozing country folk, attitudes to foreigners, police corruption, the salaciousness of the women and sin-prone clergy. Even the ambulance drivers are caught having sex with unconscious patients.

Because it’s a Lithuanian production, patriotic locals have bizarrely vote-blitzed some public film websites, leading to some deceptively bloated online scores. (Redirected’s score has declined from 9.7 to 7.9 within weeks on IMDB – less biased viewers are taking a toll on its previously stupendous rating). This national support has ‘redirected’ criticism from what is a skeletal, derivative film, free of laughs. Perhaps the in-joke that ex-Russian satellite states are stuck in a time warp is the only genuine punchline here. REDIRECTED rides a delayed cultural shock-wave, started back in the 90s with the likes of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

Interestingly, progressive attitudes are null and void – an African stowaway family count their blessings when they think they’ve reached England but unknown to them, they’re now stranded at the wrong end of the EU. This – most likely the only genuinely humorous moment in the film, would outrage radical progressives at the Guardian, no doubt, yet there is a genuine innocence here. It’s easy to forget that much of Europe is politically incorrect. REDIRECTED will appeal to people who dig parochial isolationism and the pride that comes with ignorance.

Verdict

The film is available to buy on DVD January 12th. 

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