What this country needs is a copper-bottomed, globe-straddling, blockbusting Brit Film, one that will roar across the Atlantic and whack the Yanks in the plums, hard.

Well, here it is. It's high concept heaven, all the things Britain does best rolled into one! It's got gangsters in frock coats! It's got cheeky Northerners and chirpy cockneys! It's a box-office buggering monster!

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