Student-level production values mar this promising-sounding comedic caper about a bumbling crime gang
Some none-too-bright ne’er-do-wells are trying to lie low in an out-of-the-way bungalow near Dublin, having committed a heist that has gone slightly pear-shaped. One of their number is badly wounded, the lad who has the money has vanished, the woman next door knows one guy’s real name (because he told it to her), and the livewire of the group has kidnapped a witness and stashed her in the boot of their getaway car. Naturally, said witness turns out to be the treasured daughter of a ferocious local crime boss. What more could go wrong? Plenty, because in addition to being a heist-gone-wrong, this is also a horror movie, with comic aspects.
This all sounds potentially very entertaining, if hardly original, and it’s a shame Wickedly Evil can’t live up to the reliable genre thrills promised by the premise. The influences would seem to be a respectable roll call of the likes of Reservoir Dogs, Shaun of the Dead and Clerks. But the production values are student level. Whether that’s due to talent hampered by a lack of time and money, it’s difficult to say. You can be the best chef in the world, but if you’re working with spit and sawdust, it’s be hard to cook up a Michelin star-level meal. (Though to be fair, John Waters is somehow always tastier the less money he has.)
