Eddie, the owner of a West London minicab firm, is scamming left, right and centre – a situation revealed when Eve, his new sleeping partner (in both senses) from the right side of the tracks, determines with forthright, no-bullshit Ellie (prime Kathy Burke) to set the books in order.
Jennifer Phillips' script, having introduced a number of supporting characters to the central twosome (notably Bob Goody in his speciality, the gentle gangling loser), labours to give them all a fair crack of the whip with individual subplots: the consequent assemblage of plot-bites creates something of the climate of a soap instalment. Geraldine McEwan's direction keeps the criminality looming around the corner. but is again hamstrung by the broad-brushed peripheral cast. This caricaturing and the low-key menace pull in opposite directions upon a piece that. in another medium (Screen Two, anyone?), could pack an impressive punch.
Written for City Limits magazine.
Copyright © Ian Shuttleworth; all rights reserved.
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