Brighton Rock

Aroview: Graham Greene's 1939 novel is the source material for this prickly British underworld drama about a gangster (Riley) whose rise through the ranks is complicated by a naive waitress.

Originally filmed in 1947 with Richard Attenborough famously in the lead role, dir. Joffe’s update is, on the face of it, too stylized and forced in appearance to live up to Greene’s crime-lit classic, though it must be said that it still succeeds in building suspense and emotional sweat where it counts. Though you’re better off revisiting the original screen version, a nonetheless gripping gangland thriller with a few sharp edges.