“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Monday, July 9, 2007

The Embiggened O # 2,431: The Future’s So Bright We Gotta Wear Critical Mick’s Shades

It’s not often we quote Critical Mick here on Crime Always Pays – just every second day or so, enough to keep him from demanding jelly babies with menaces. But we couldn’t help ourselves stealing wholesale from his review of The Big O, mainly because he was so unusually unCritical*, to wit:
“Mick says: the dialogue, characters, plot and action were swift, sharp and entertaining enough to merit the suspension of disbelief. The same way that Training Day is a great movie despite the yawning implausibility of its crucial coincidence. Yes, the same way that 2006’s Running Scared ran so fast and slick. Winners all, big time. Riding the movie theme hard into this review’s conclusion: The Big O is the stuff Tarantino or Guy Ritchie would make into a film, a great fun film like Snatch, Layer Cake or Get Shorty. Filled with as many great characters as Pulp Fiction or (my personal fave 90’s crime flick) Things to do in Denver When You're Dead. Burke’s The Big O would inspire a classic full of tough crooks, wise cracks, drugs, flash and boobies. “Wow,” viewers would say. And then the hippest moviegoers, leading their hot redheaded dates outta the cinema, slipping on their designer shades, would say, “Yeah, but have you read the book it was based on? The book was better.””
Huzzah! We’ve been Micked and lived to tell the tale! That’s another one to tell the grandkids …

*Actually, he was very Critical. But we cut out the bad bits. As you do.

4 comments:

Peter Rozovsky said...

I dunno, I loved The Big O, but I thought Training Day was a shite movie.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

We haven't seen Training Day, Peter, but if it's good enough for Critical Mick, then we just cower in fear and nod humbly ...

Peter Rozovsky said...

Far be it from me to infringe on your right to cower in fear! I do think the Guy Ritchie comment was more to the point than the one about Training Day, though, because Ritchie seems to have fun doing what he does. Training Day has some of the menace but none of the fun.

==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

David Ayers is great. He did Training Day and Harsh Times too. Hard as nails scripts. And, eh, The Fast And The Furious.