'London Boulevard' directed by William Monaha

Colin Farrell returns to drama as part of his orchestrated comeback in London Boulevard as an ex-con named Mitchel who wants to go straight working as the bodyguard for an English actress named Charlotte (Keira Knightley). Mitchell just spent three years for a violent assault and his past can never let him go. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Ken Bruen, Farrell gives us a taste of the rough streets of London and how it lures back a criminal trying to change his ways.

There doesn’t seem to be too much of a romance between Mitchel and Charlotte. Sure they become involved but it doesn’t go past functional. Knightley plays into type as a mixture of Greta Garbo and Audrey Hepburn who is selfish and cold. She is well cast and Farrell is in his element as a rough boy prone to anti-social tendencies. Farell is certainly trying to establish himself as an actor now that he is older and his wild boy tactics and lack of discipline almost killed his once promising career. Pairing him with Knightley was a brilliant move by his management to rehabilitate Farrell as much as his character Mitchel is trying to do.

London Boulevard reminds us that the company we keep can make or break us. Mitchel stays best friends with Grant who is in deep with a London crime boss keen to swindle Charlotte. Mitchel must also contend with his mentally ill sister Briony who has fallen into alcoholism since he went away to prison. Mitchel is too boxed in with the psychopaths of organized crime to not return to who is really is. Sometimes criminals are just born defiant. Mitchel certainly doesn’t help himself with the kind of environment he surrounds himself with. Unfortunately, this is a case that proves that the best indicator of future behavior is one’s past track record. You can’t escape the past because it lives in you in the present. There are no second chances or hope for redemption in London Boulevard.