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      Love, Honour and Obey

      R 2000 1 hr. 43 min. Comedy List
      33% 18 Reviews Tomatometer 86% 5,000+ Ratings Audience Score A young man (Jonny Lee Miller) reminisces about how a childhood friend introduced him to the biggest gangster in London. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (513) audience reviews
      DanTheMan 2 I feel like people who overly criticise Love, Honour and Obey have fundamentally missed what the film is even about. Love, Honour and Obey is very much a mock satire of the British gangster film and does so with a huge amount of swagger and intelligence that even when it's a parody of its own genre, that it even lovingly becomes a great film in that genre. Ray runs North London's most powerful criminal gang, and his nephew Jude is a polished and successful member. Jude's boyhood friend Jonny comes to Jude with an idea he wants to pitch to Ray; Jude is reluctant to mix friendship with business (and family), but he does arrange a meeting. Ray takes Jonny on (he uses his job as a courier to steal credit cards), but Jonny soon finds himself bored: the gang is more interested in goofing around and planning Ray's wedding than in fighting, havoc, and mayhem. Jonny wants violence, so he repeatedly tries to start trouble with the South London equivalent of Ray's gang. Will he succeed? If he does, will he find glory in war? First off, the direction. Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis capture that gritty and thoroughly realistic depiction of London fabulously, almost as if the film has been shot like a documentary. The raw 16mm nature of the film means you are left with these lingering close-ups of situations that some may find extremely uncomfortable but not entirely out of place within the genre. How the film is edited with its numerous fade-outs does bother me since it reeks of low budget but that's the exact style this film is aiming for so it's not so much a criticism and more of an observation. The writing is hilarious, perfectly hamming up the dialogue to the point of ridiculousness that I struggle to understand how the cast even managed to keep a straight face for most of it. John Beckett's underscoring does a stand-up job but is not really memorable enough to warrant a sufficient dissection of the material, the real standouts are the use of licensed music including two Gerry Anderson theme tunes that are lovingly sung by the film's cast. The Protector's Theme Avenues and Alleyways forms the basis of part of the film's narrative, being sung during the titles and before the end credits bookending the film with both renditions taking on a different meaning within the narrative. But by far the stand out sequence for me was the performance of the closing titles of Fireball XL5 by the magnificent Sean Pertwee and Trevor Laird. Speaking of the cast, they are all brilliant, Ray Winstone, Jude Law, Jonny Lee Miller and my personal favourite Sean Pertwee. All turn in great performances and their willingness to satire themselves is to be applauded. Sean can be a real bastard when he wants to and I love that. Overall, Love Honour and Obey is a great piece of satire of the rather oversaturated British Crime genre and really warrants multiple viewings... Go give it a watch, it's on YouTube at the moment. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/30/23 Full Review Stewart I What a terrible movie so bad Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/11/23 Full Review Audience Member The reviews on here are nonsense. The reviewers seem to be the type of people that appreciate high brow films which is absolutely fine. However, it doesn't mean this film lacks anything. It is absolutely one of the funniest films ever made. I'm not actually convinced all the reviewers that have given a poor score understand what it's meant to be. It's not a serious film but arguably more true to real life than any other, yes it's about London gangsters but it's not even intended to be completely serious, it's not trying to. It's a film basically making fun of gangsters. It's about not taking yourself too seriously. The point is gangsters are usually portrayed as very serious, very dangerous people that never seem to have fun. This film shows a different side. It shows them as just people. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review KARL O I question how unintelligent you would have to be to enjoy this tripe. Not a movie but a set of disjointed, uninteresting, unfunny scraps. You can't help feel the smug creators and cast had a far better time brewing this sewer than any audience could ever have indulging it. Self satisfied rubbish. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/24/22 Full Review Audience Member This movie is, without a doubt, the stupidest movie I have ever seen. The dialogue is nonsensical, the editing looks like it was done by a middle schooler, and the plot is moronic. There is no humor in the stupidity. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the best and funny British gangster movies ever made. Laugh a minute. Some cracking performances in their too. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Love, Honour and Obey

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (18) Critics Reviews
      Globe and Mail Rated: 2/4 Apr 5, 2002 Full Review Stephen Holden New York Times Rated: 1/5 Apr 16, 2001 Full Review Peter Howell Toronto Star Such a complete waste of time it seems appropriate to write a eulogy to the dear departed British crime caper. Apr 6, 2001 Full Review Ard Vijn ScreenAnarchy It still manages to build towards a strong, impressive ending. Jan 11, 2020 Full Review Antonia Quirke Independent on Sunday As a self-congratulatory exercise, Love Honour and Obey is perhaps without equal. Nov 28, 2017 Full Review MaryAnn Johanson Flick Filosopher [A]n absurdist Mob comedy that's like The Sopranos with an English accent... and karaoke. Nov 19, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis A young man (Jonny Lee Miller) reminisces about how a childhood friend introduced him to the biggest gangster in London.
      Director
      Dominic Anciano
      Executive Producer
      David M. Thompson, Jane Tranter, Jim Beach
      Screenwriter
      Dominic Anciano
      Production Co
      BBC, Fugitive Films
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Comedy
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      Apr 17, 2001
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $1.1K
      Sound Mix
      Surround