Review by Troy Balmayer
Directed by: Sean J Vincent
Starring: Steven Berkoff, Dave Vincent Philips, Paul Cooper, Samantha Fox, Saffron
7 Cases is like something you may have expected to pick up on a bargain shelf in a Blockbusters store, back when they were still about. It doesn’t have enough drama or spectacle to hit the big screen but in the comfort of your own home, it’s enjoyable, if not scraping by in what it’s trying to accomplish.
Seeking and then getting the opportunity to rob a large amount of money, Floyd brings along old time crook pal Mitchell for the gig. Their haul is seven cases, which disappear while they sleep, and a game of chase begins as they have to get to seven people known to them and decide whether the cash is more important than these lives.
It really hits the ground running and for a good few minutes I was thinking this movie was going to keep this energetic, slick and gritty style going, but it does unfortunately become bitter as the running time ticks by like their own countdown. The opening credits and flashy shots of cars, streets and weapons strike the eye like a visual buffet of delights; this couldn’t be more heist thriller territory if it tried, and it looks great. The past robbery and subsequent police chase is short but effective and then bang…the main part of the movie wallops into gear.
More than a few years have passed and we come to meet Floyd, who’s still stuck in the criminal game and somehow without having seen his mate for a long time, he suddenly sees him and gets him involved like nothing. This isn’t the only example of how flawed the script can feel. Sean J. Vincent handles the writing without any flair. The dialogue is laboured and some of the sentences the gruff men come out with are laughable, to tell the truth. It doesn’t sound real; it’s clunky and serves to merely get by until the next possible victim is tracked down.
This is a shame as the opening gives a sense of real potential and even throughout the movie there are some well framed shots, slick sequences and snappy editing, but the film is dragged down by a few sound clips failing sync, sore Saw attempts at traps along with a Jigsaw villain and a finale based on chess, which is both dumb for that obvious metaphor and funny for the fact they both cannot play it. Also the explosives and heightened horrors of this game aren’t necessary; it could have been scary or tense without the Hollywood label of big means best, because in this case it doesn’t, evident in the A Level film project look of bombs and green screen.
One huge positive of this feature is Jon Atkinson’s music. The building rush of sounds in the opening really makes it feel impactful and gets you enthralled for what you could be watching. It has a vague Run Lola Run sense of urgency and though the film fails to follow that imagination and splendour, the music constantly hits high notes, suiting the mood necessary for what is happening on screen.
Opening and closing this heist thriller is that good old cliché of life as a chance, the handy card deck scenario of being dealt something. It’s passable on first hearing but when it sets the scene for wrapping up what you’ve seen, it becomes frankly pithy at trying to sound intelligent and affirming for how lives could be. The film has some okay ideas but there’s nothing gripping or unpredictable in the story laid out.
A better heist movie than horror or thriller, and one that weakens the deal for leading you into thinking you’re about to watch a low budget yet smart British film. It has its good moments but there are more than seven cases of problems with this movie.
