It is based on the Alice In Wonderland story, but it is a story on its own. Alice is an American student that is in London at the moment the film starts. She is on the run for some people, and got hit by a taxi. She looses her memory and the people who witnessed the hit threat to call the police, so Whitey, the cabdriver, has to take her with him on his ride. He takes Alice to a land she have never seen before and nothing is what it seems. She meets the most amazing people there and she has to find out who she can trust. But the most important thing is to remember who she is. Will she get her memory back and will she make it back to London? These are questions that will be answered in this film. Malice In Wonderland might be based on the Alice stories, but I see a totally different story in it. You see the most amazing characters in the films and some of them are way over the top. But that is what I like. When I was in London, I did read a lot of bad critics on the film, and that is a thing this film doesn't deserve. One of the strangest critics I read was that the film was bad, because Danny Dyer is in it. If that is the case, then I dislike a lot of films because Hugh Grant, Steve Martin or Leslie Nielsen are in it. Malice deserves an honest chance and that is not what it got. The film came straight out on DVD and it is worth a watch.
Danny Dyer plays Whitey the cabdriver. I had never heard of him before, and he did a great job in this film. Maggie Grace is another new name for me in the leading role of Alice. She does a great job aswell. My favorite actor Nathaniel Parker played a way over the top character and he does a wonderful job playing Harry Hunt, the gay gangster, who celibrate that he is out of prison. Matt King is a 3rd new name for me, but a promise for the future. He played Gonzo. Anthony Higgins made a wonderful Rex. I saw him before in the Inspector Lynley Mysteries and some other crime dramas and he is a good actor. Other actors who are worth mentioning are: Bronagh Gallagher, Gary Beadle, Steve Haze, Paul Kaye, David Frost, but the absolute star for me was Dave Lynn as Jack (Jaqueline for posh). His storylines were very few, but he stole my heart as this character.
The nightclub scenes in the film really stood out for me. I have never before seen so many strange characters in a club before. The trucker cafe scene's were filled with strange characters aswell. The people who worked on the film did a great job and despite the bad critics the film deserved more than a straight to DVD release.
The film is dark and fast and full of nice twists and surprises. As I mentioned before, nothing is what it's like. There are some very funny lines and mix ups in the film. I am not going to give anything away, as I don't want to spoil the watch for others. But I can tell that the mix up between Whitey and Gonzo about a tie were very funny and even I fell for it. Sometimes I didn't understand what was said, but that is only because I am not that good with Cockney or other British slng/dialect. Malice is a wonderful film, not for huge audiences. But people who like an arty film that is made with love and care will have a good time watching this film. Malice will be in my top 10 for sure. The journalists that gave Malice a bad review didn't do their jobs properly. It seems to me that they didn't like the film from the start. I know that journalists are intitled to their opinion, but many of the bad reviews were very unfair. I would love to change places with them, so they can give their good critics to the "blockbusters", and I can give good critics to films like Malice In Wonderland. I hope to see many more of films like this. I am looking forward to new films by the producers of this film (and Flawless, another great film, with Demi Moore, Micheal Cane, Nathaniel Parker and many more wonderful actors). 6Sales is a company that really care for films in my opinion and I rate them as high as I rate the Ealing Studio's for their projects. I am very happy that companies like these excists, they give me the jewels that I want to see in the cinemas.
