How many superlatives can be used to describe ‘Top Dog’? I can think of many that have been used in other reviews, but let’s just keep it simple… this new offering from Richwater Films and Universal Pictures UK and directed by Martin Kemp, is just plain ‘good’… damn good.

Produced by Jonathan Sothcott (‘Vendetta) and exquisitely constructed, this is Martin Kemp’s (‘The Krays’, ‘EastEnders’) second outing as a film director, a testing piece of work that lays its cards on the table and dead body on the mortuary slab right from the outset. Blood, a tense opening narrative, you get the gist that this is going to be messy.

In the adaptation of the novel by Dougie Brimson (‘Green Street’), Leo Gregory (‘Green Street’ and ‘Cass’) plays a formidable and believable part as Billy Evans, a thirty-something East End car salesman who’s got it made, trophy wife, child, home, car, job, wants it all and wants the top dog position that will allow him to reclaim a family member’s pub as the home of his football firm, ‘Acton Casuals’. With the goading of the ‘AC brethren’, cocky Billy takes his lust for leadership one step further, violently cutting swathes through a trajectory that brings him face to face with gangland boss Mickey, played to perfection by Ricci Harnett (‘Rise of the Footsoldier’, ’28 Days Later’) who isn’t about to hand the title over without a fight. Vincent Regan (‘Clash of the Titans’, ‘St George’s Day’), with his mellow Irish tones, acidly accentuates the backbone of fear that runs through this film. It sounds a simple plot, but the exchanges of violence are as charged as I’ve ever seen in a film of this budget, and the spiralling depths to which the emotions sink are hard-hitting and raw.

Martin Kemp intended this film to be a ‘kitchen sink’ drama, void of Hollywood gloss, powerfully showing the perils of being top dog, being number one and of saying ‘I’m the leader’. The wives and partners play strong and potent roles, showing the realism of households living with the underlying deceitfulness and tensions associated with hooliganism and gangland violence. Danielle Brent (‘Cockneys Vs Zombies’) as Billy’s wife Sam, Lorraine Stanley (‘The Hooligan Wars’) and rising British acting talent, George Russo punctuate the storyline, stepping up to the mark with the confidence this gritty film demanded.
It’s not a pretty film, it’s not a clever film, it works within the boundaries of the budget, but it’s the sort of film that is truly British, an insight into the deep and ugly world of football hooliganism and gangland rivalries that existed in the depths of London in the 80s and 90s.

TOP DOG – in cinemas from Friday 23 May and is out today to own on Blu-ray £15.99) and DVD (£12.99) through Universal Pictures UK

A re-written version of ‘Top Dog’ by Dougie Brimson is soon to be published through Caffeine Nights Publishing.