ELBA DEBUT FAILS TO HIT TARGET

VIEWED against a dispiriting backdrop of violent crime, gritty coming-of-age story Yardie is the wrong film in the right place at the right time. Sadly. Adapted from Victor Headley’s novel, Idris Elba’s directorial debut is an uneven and emotionally unsatisfying drama set in 70s Jamaica and 80s London. The cast’s thick, melodic accents render some of the leaden dialogue in the script unintelligible. This contributes to a lack of emotional investment in characters as they wrestle with their desires, doomed to repeat the tragic mistakes of the past. Drawing on his DJ background, Elba evokes the era with a soundtrack of reggae and soul, which provides key scenes with a satisfying tempo. The film opens in 1973 Kingston, a capital stained with the blood of innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of the rival Tapper and Spicer gangs.

Ten-year-old Dennis Campbell, or D (Antwayne Eccleston), lives with his older brother and idol Jerry Dread (Everaldo Creary), who is determined to end the bitter feud through the power of music.

Jerry organises a block party on neutral ground, which momentarily unites the warring factions. But a gunshot rings out, the crowd scatter and D watches in horror as his brother becomes the latest casualty of the turf war.

A decade later, D (now played by Aml Ameen) is a lieutenant for music impresario King Fox (Sheldon Shepherd), who dispatches his best man to England with a consignment of drugs strapped to his body. D senses something is awry at the handover and he flees the lair of hardman Rico (Stephen Graham), barely escaping with his life.

He seeks refuge with his estranged wife Yvonne (Shantol Jackson) and their child but Rico and his gun-toting goons are determined to track down their man.

In a cruel twist, Jerry’s murderer Clancy (Riaze Foster) is also in London and D scents a chance to avenge his brother.

The film then grinds through the gears before the inevitable showdown.

Yardie is a depressingly familiar tale of macho posturing, failed ambition and deep-rooted grief that lacks a distinctive voice behind the camera.

And the romantic subplot remains on a gentle simmer as Elba refuses to turn up the heat on his characters until it’s too late.