Wendy Ide 

Jackdaw review – a tiresome ride through Tees Valley’s drug-fuelled underworld

Some decent sequences of motorbike mayhem rev up this vacuous north-eastern crime thriller
  
  

Oliver Jackson-Cohen in Jackdaw
Oliver Jackson-Cohen in the ‘dumb-as-a-bag-of-spanners’ Jackdaw. Photograph: Publicity image

A former motocross champion and army veteran, Jack (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), returns to his home in the industrial north-east of England to care for his younger brother, who has learning disabilities, following the death of their mother. To earn a quick buck, he agrees to a risky North Sea pickup of a mysterious parcel for a former friend turned rave maniac, crime kingpin Silas (Joe Blakemore, off-the-charts bonkers and not in a good way), but finds himself double-crossed. What’s more, his brother has gone missing and his motorbike’s carburettor is playing up. Over the course of a single eventful night, Jack burns around the drug-fuelled underworld of the Tees Valley on his bike, with chirpy club casualty Craig (Thomas Turgoose) riding pillion.

Jamie Childs’s brisk little thriller boasts some decent sequences of vehicular mayhem. Unfortunately, it’s also as dumb as a bag of spanners. Fans of motocross, drug-based gang violence and overacting will find much to enjoy. Everyone else should probably steer clear.

Watch a trailer for Jackdaw.
 

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