Citizen Gangster
The first feature from writer/director Nathan Morlando, CITIZEN GANGSTER is based on the true story of Edwin Boyd (Scott Speedman), the man who became postwar Toronto's most famous criminal. Edwin Boyd has returned from WWII and is dismayed by public indifference towards veterans and humiliated by his inability to fulfill his dream of being a Hollywood star or provide for his children and wife Doreen (Kelly Reilly). Seeing only disappointment in the face of his policeman father (Brian Cox), Eddie is desperate and starts to rob banks. But what starts as friendly and flirtatious robberies, performed while wearing thick makeup, evolves over time into a career that when mixed with a gang of small time criminals is not unlike that of Clyde Barrow or Butch Cassidy, in which crime and love are mixed to get explosive results.
Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
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A good-looking but passionless affair that remains stubbornly aloof from its audience.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, 04.26.2012 -
Morlando has crafted a stylishly shot and evocatively designed period piece. But it's the dashing, quietly charismatic Speedman who proves the main draw, holding our attention even when the movie doesn't.
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 05.03.2012 -
Morlando shows commendable focus (even Cox dials it down), and his movie's modest aspirations nicely reflect the condition in which Boyd, his damaged charisma spent, finally thrives.
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice, 04.24.2012 -
Morlando has chosen to approach this material not with witty cynicism, but with quiet, and at times leaden, sincerity.
Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post, 04.26.2012
