Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Shank (2009) Directed by Simon Pearce

Do you know what "Happy Slapping" is?  A merry little band of thugs will single out some person, run up and brutally beat them while one of their numbers captures it all on camcorder.  Cal (Wayne Virgo) is member of one such gang.  But Cal is not like the other boys; he has a secret.  Cal likes to pick up men, service them while they film him, and later, he masturbates to the tapes.  One gets the feeling this might not go down so well with his group of Thumping Thugs.

Of the group, only two are really important to Cal.  Jonno (Tom Bott) is his best mate, and there is a palpable sexual tension between them.  The other is Nessa (Alice Payne) who is B*tch Queen of the gang.  Nessa is volatile and violent.  She also obviously wants Cal.  It is also obviously one-sided, though we know they share history.

Cal picks up Will (Bernie Hodges) and takes him to a deserted patch of woods.  Cal may be the receptive partner, but he is definitely the sexual aggressor.  And after Will has served his purpose, Cal viciously head-butts his nose, leaving him bleeding in the middle of nowhere.

While he sounds like an unmitigated bastard, Cal actually has a conscience.  While Jonno beats up foreign exchange student Olivier (Marc Laurent) and Nessa films it, Cal is moved to intervene.  He pulls Jonno off the boy, allowing him a chance to escape.  Cal collects the abandoned shopping bags, and leaving his mates, drives off after the battered Olivier, giving him a ride home.  Olivier is hardly swooning to fall into his rescuer's arms, but allows Cal to take him home.

However his actions have consequences; Nessa turns on him.  And the gang follows her lead.  Cal has to literally flee for his life.  But Nessa isn't worried; where is he going to go?

Olivier finds out in the morning.  Cal is asleep in his car parked in front of Olivier's flat.  Olivier invites him in, and one thing leads to another...

So now Cal is caught between two worlds; he has a boyfriend who belongs to a world he can't imagine living in.  Not only being openly gay, but also the barrier of class.  And the world where he thinks he belongs no longer is safe for him.  It is a dilemma.

This movie is an odd mix.  I don't know what to call Cal's world.  It's not Noir, it's not Guy Richie.  Gritty does not begin to cover it.  It is dark, depressing, desperate and dysfunctional.  Nor is Olivier's world entire comfortable.  Everything works when they are naked, but when Olivier tries to dress him, Cal is working on accepting he looks good in a shirt with a collar, and Olivier is trying to accessorize it with an ascot.  Poor Cal has not yet faced himself, or his past.

The chemistry between the boys is palpable.  The unexpressed longing between Cal and Jonno smokes.  The attraction between Cal and Olivier is gentler, but stronger.  Cal may be on top, but Olivier is very much in control as the more experienced partner.  And he is gentle with Cal, not only sexually, but in probing about his past.  While Laurent has some trouble with dialogue; either English really is his second language, or the accent is too ambitious for his fledgling skills, he makes up for it with his nonverbal acting.  Virgo and Bott are superior actors, and Alice Payne has a nasty edge of madness that's hard to get right.  All in all, sterling performances from a green troupe.

The blend of the story; the senseless violence, and the tender romance is a startling contrast.  There is a power to Pearce's depiction of the gang's world.  It is rough, unrefined, but gripping.  Only when Olivier is using Cal for a dress up doll does it seem disingenuous.

 Gay romance and random senseless violence seems an odd mix, but it works.

This review, like Jonno, is Lean-N-Mean.  It weighs in at a concise 666 words.

Gay Movies:

La Mission***Burnt Money***8: The Mormon Propo$ition***In The Flesh***The Sensei***The 24th Day***Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon***ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction***East Side Story***Dorian Blues***Creatures From the Pink Lagoon***Satyricon***Ice Men***Richard O'Briens Rocky Horror Tribute Show***Prom Queen***The Kids are All Right***Between Love and Goodbye***The Mudge Boy***That Man: Peter Berlin***A Single Man***Almost Normal***Outing Riley***Outrage!***Law of Desire***Love is the Devil***Cowboy Junction***Horror in the Wind***Bedrooms and Hallways***Cut Sleeve Boys***Big Eden***For A Lost Soldier***Midnight Cowboy***Redwoods***The Massuer***Boy Culture***Breakfast With Scot***The Fluffer***Flesh***Little Ashes***L.I.E. ***Dorian Gray***9 Dead Gay Guys***Shank***I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry***Beautiful Boxer***Bangkok Love Story***Schoolboy Crush***Shelter***Back Soon***Dog Tags***Theft***The Mulligans***The Velvet Goldmine***Swashbuckler***Smoke Signals
***C'Thulhu***Milk***The Picture of Dorian Gray***Brideshead Revisited***Notes on a Scandal***RocknRolla***Mamma Mia!
***Priscillia: Queen of the Desert***The History Boys***Brokeback Mountain***The Broken Hearts Club*** Yaji and Kita: Midnight Pilgrims ***Surge of Power ***In & Out ***Mambo Italiano ***Touch of Pink ***To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar ***Wolves of Kromer ***Rocky Horror Picture Show ***Taboo ***Deathtrap 


Gay Themed Series:

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Dante's Cove
Hex
Carnivale Season One
Carnivale Season Two
Rome Season One
Rome Season Two
True Blood
True Blood: Season Two
The Book of Daniel: The Complete Series
Torchwood: Children of Earth
Torchwood: Season One


Gay Animation:

Pirate's Booty***Sensitive Pornograph***Loveless: The Complete Series***Loveless: Hope on the Run***Loveless: Soul of Chains***Loveless: Lost and Found***Embracing Love: A Cicada in Winter***Embracing Love: Cherished Spring ***Stonewall & Riot***Drawn Together Movie: The Movie***Drawn Together: Season 2***Drawn Together: Season 3

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age