The Bezonians

The title and Vinnie Jones’s act of gross violence at the beginning could trick the viewer into thinking that this is another london based gangster film. There are elements of that but this is more a slice of North London Greek diaspora life set in and around The Bezonians social club, with some criminal activity.

A narrator takes us through the history of the club, introduces the characters, recounts few capers setting the scene as well as providing a commentary and insight. Chief here is the owner of the club, Plato (Andreas Karras) a family man married to Helen (Marina Sirtis) whose man’s man outlook is dated to say the least.

Plato however is in general a good-natured man with a few things on the side. Such as letting the manipulative Lola (Lois Babin-Platt) sell her dodgy handbags there, and giving the locals a safe space in which to scheme. Amongst them are Achilles (Savvas D. Michael) as the strong silent type that falls for Lola, and is mentor to Anthony (Jamie Crew) whose development was stunted after the death of his father.

And there a number of others with intertwining stories that flesh out the philosophy of the club and the members. It sort of meanders a bit until Plato arranges a game of poker and overstretches himself and finding out he maybe doesn’t know his clientele all that well.

There’s a lot of Scorsese, Tarantino and DeNiro here, the latter in particular as The Bezonians club is vaguely reminiscent of the establishment in A Bronx Tale from where mob boss Chazz Palminteri runs his operation. The direction is slick, with dialogue to match even if at times it is wilfully un-PC. There’s more of a lads will be lads about town feel to it than granite hardened meanness (apart from Jones), though writer and director Savvas D. Michael doesn’t hold back when violence is required.

The soundtrack is a curious mix of jazz, traditional Greek and other music which skilfully works very well with the images. Despite the billing, Jones and Sirtis are little more than cameos so the heavy lifting is left to Karras, Babin-Platt and Crew who are each excellent in their roles.

The Bezonians will be available on digital download, Blu-Ray and DVD from 2 May.