London Road (2015) Olivia Colman, Clare Burt, Rosalie Craig, Anita Dobson, James Doherty, Kate Fleetwood Movie Review

London Road (2015)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Olivia Colman in London Road (2015)

A Musical Murder

Whilst the locals were aware of the prostitutes in areas of town, the shock when all of a sudden Ipswich is big news thanks to the murder of five of them hits everyone. As the locals deal with he question of who it could be and how it could be any one they meet on the streets, causing fear they also have to deal with the negative press when it comes to their beloved town.

Not often a movie leaves me feeling flummoxed but "London Road" achieved that because I am at a loss as to how I feel about this movie. Part of that comes from the fact I remember watching the news surrounding the murder of these prostitutes and whilst I have no issues about movies dramatizing true crimes retelling it in the form of a musical, well that almost feels a little distasteful. Yet at the same time it is certainly a creative idea which has the almost talking musical element which worked well in "Evita".

But whilst torn between finding it creative and distasteful I also have to say that whilst the novelty of dialogue being delivered to fit a musical score is different it does end up becoming annoying in places. In fact at times I could have closed my eyes and it would have sounded like I was listening to the local amateur dramatics society putting on a play at the town's theatre, it has that sort of musical feel to it.

What this all boils down to is that if truth be told "London Road" didn't work for me as whilst it is certainly a creative way of telling the true story it ended up feeling too much like something which probably would have worked on a small stage rather than as a movie.


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