Sunday, March 27, 2005

DVD Review - Hustle, Series 1

I'm trying to be good now, I keep gettin' bollocked for making sarcastic comments and writing over 200 words. All nice and smiley then, lets give it a crack, even the unedited version...

"The Con is On”…

From the makers of Spooks comes Hustle, the BBC drama series about a group of four con artists; Mickey Stone, Ash Morgan (a world weary Robert Glenister), Stacie Monroe (the totally gorgeous Jaime Murray) and Albert Stroller (the incredible, one and only, Robert Vaughn) who get back together after Mickey's spell in the klink. Mickey (Adrian Lester) has a plan for one last score before his retirement and wants the best team he can lay his hands on. The over-eager, full-of-himself Danny Blue (Marc Warren), a “short-con artist”, also wants in on the action and invites himself along for the ride.

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen, features on the disc include an Assembling the team featurette, a Marc Warren Card Trick Easter Egg and interviews with the writer Tony Jordan, the producers and cast.

Hustle is fairly lightweight, but good and glossy fun. The honour among thieves thing never wears thin as they prove, from episode to episode, that “you can’t con an honest man” and that they are the are probably the only honest folk in a dishonest world. Friendship and teamwork, plus slick and stylish and (on occasion) inspired direction, make this a light but quality bit of entertainment that’s harmless to all but “the mark”. Broaden your vocabulary and polish off your spats. The inter character on-screen chemistry is over-flowing.

Okay, so it gets a bit far fetched at times, but it never takes itself too seriously and it has that BBC stamp of production value that offers some truly inspired and well written and skilfully crafted episodes that will keep you guessing right up to the punch line.

All in all, if you don’t mind me saying, an excellent investment opportunity for 2005. Trust me, one thing you wont be is "conned" if you treat yourself to this DVD. Just have a feel of the quality of that, that's not some cheap VHS you know. Don’t let this one pass you buy. Six (yes, count them, six) instalments later and I've studied hard. Now please sent me all your money.

Oh, and don’t forget to look out for the new series, now showing on BBC1 at 9.00 on Tuesday evenings...

Movie: 4 out of 5