Plastic (film)

Plot

Based on a true story, a group of English university students were running a successful credit card scam. They make a powerful enemy by stealing the wrong man's briefcase and are forced to enlist the help of Frankie, who works for a credit card company. The group of five then go to try and rack up two million pounds to pay off their debt but fall short during a night of strippers and champagne. To make up for the money they still need, they plan a diamond heist.

Cast

Production

On 6 December 2012, Ed Speleers, Will Poulter and Alfie Allen were announced to star in the film, with Julian Gilbey set to direct and Chris Howard, Julian Gilbey and Will Gilbey set to write the film. International distribution rights are being licensed by Cinema Management Group.

Filming

On 10 December 2012, Gateway Films announced the start of principal photography of the film which was filmed in Brunei, London, Manchester and Miami.

Release

The film was released in the UK on 2 May 2014, and later released in the US on 26 September 2014.

Critical response

The film was critically panned on release, scoring a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus reads "Far-fetched, frantically overstuffed, and unfunny, Plastic seems to use its title as a goal as much as a description."

Guy Lodge of Variety said "The title says it all in this cheap, laborious junior heist thriller from British B-movie journeyman Julian Gilbey". Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent "A nasty streak of casual sexism runs through an already unpleasant and absurdly far-fetched film". Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter said "All champagne and strippers, conspicuous consumption and witless machismo, Plastic is a contemporary British heist movie that already feels dated, as if it were made before the bubble burst on Guy Ritchie's comic book gangster voyeurism".

There were, however, some positive reviews. Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times stated that "As mindless entertainment goes, it's a pretty watchable time-passer.", and Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times said "It's hard to escape the sense that 'Plastic' is itself a cheap knockoff, but the point is not to look too closely".

In an interview with The Guardian whilst promoting his film, The Maze Runner, actor Will Poulter expressed his disdain for starring in the film, describing the film as "bad" and saying "It’s really tough, man. Because it’s shaming. And the worst thing is thinking someone will think you did it for dishonourable reasons. I’m not shifting the blame. I recognise my responsibility to that film. But I’ve tried to shake it off since.” He closed out his interview by saying "I’ve got the one film that I regret out of my way. And I don’t intend to make another one."