A 2010 British film noir released in Britain last November, it is based on a novel by Ken Bruen with screenplay and direction by William Monahan, who won the Oscar for writing the screenplay for Martin Scorsese's The Departed. A "clean" version of the film is currently showing in Hong Kong.
Farrell is superb in his portrayal of someone who desperate to get his life back. But his past is less willing to let him go. Although he finds employment as a bodyguard for Knightley's vulnerable superstar, Charlotte, soon, he gets caught up in the violent world of crime once again.
The film focuses on a question almost all gangster movies seem to want to answer: Is our destiny really up to us? Can we change the path of our lives if we determine to do so? It is not until the very end that these answers are revealed.
The movie does contain strong language, though the audience is spared some horrific, gruesome killing scenes which are left to their imagination. Nevertheless, the ending is liable to make you wake up in the middle of the night, feeling unnerved and a little depressed.