Stars: Mary McCormack, Minnie Driver, Kevin McNally, Mark Williams, Danny Dyer, Michael Gambon, Darren Boyd, Len Collin, Simon Scardifield

Director: Mel Smith

Summary: The story of two best friends, Frances and Shannon who find themselves up to their necks in it when they decide to blackmail and gang of robbers. Things don't go exactly as they planned, however they try to draw the gang into their web of deceit and trickery...

THELMA AND LOUISE meets BRIDGET JONES' DIARY in this madcap British caper starring Minnie Driver as Sharon, a young, working-class nurse struggling to survive the work-a-day world of London with her best friend Frances (Mary McCormack). One night, while Sharon and Frances are eavesdropping on cell phone calls using Sharon's deadbeat boyfriend's police scanner, they overhear a conversation detailing a top-dollar bank heist about to take place in their neighborhood. Desperate for cash and down-on-their-luck, the girls decide to go against their initial intentions to report the crime and do the unthinkable: blackmail the thieves for a cut of the money. But, what begins as a half-cocked plan turns deadly when they are faced with the ruthless ringleader of the band of thugs (Kevin McNally), who will stop at nothing to derail his new competition. This mod caper, featuring 1960s era split screens and a classic pair of bumbling detectives, is a delirious combination of screwball comedy and Guy Ritchie-inspired action. Minnie Driver and Mary McCormack are delightfully kooky as the naive nurse turned femme fatale and the aspiring actress who finally gets a chance to embody new and unusual characters. Hilarious gags and nonstop action combine to give this lively adventure a zestful and brazen energy that erupts in a powerhouse finale. HIGH HEELS AND LOW LIFES features an hysterical cast of characters including Michael Gambon who costars as an eerily feminine, Godfather-like, criminal mastermind.

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With its limp efforts to mix comedy and drama, High Heels and Low Lifesis in many ways a faltering attempt to combine the most successful aspects of recent British cinema. Directed by Mel Smith (whose The Tall Guywas unarguably a fine film), the movie tries to work the modern gangster genre into a more farcical setting. By basing his film on the story of two friends Frances (Mary McCormack) and Shannon (Minnie Driver), Smith is aiming for a Thelma &Louisefeel, but falls some way short of the mark.

Having literally stumbled into a local bank robbery, the pair devise a plan to blackmail the gang behind the heist--a plan that descends into a rather predictable farce. McCormack certainly makes energetic use of the limited material she has to work with, and while kudos must go to Driver for picking a low-budget British film, she simply has been much better in her Hollywood work (notably the more understated humour of Grosse Pointe Blank). Indeed, its female leads aside, the cast is almost predominantly assembled from British television comedy shows, with Mark Williams from The Fast Showand Big Train's Danny Dyer acquitting themselves particularly well. Overall, though, it's not an awful lot to write home about.

On the DVD:High Heels and Low Lifesthe DVD, like the film itself, is fairly average. The soundtrack (a vibrant mix of old and new) certainly sounds good and Smith's snappy visual style is well represented. The special features, however, fail to offer us anything particularly new or exciting, featuring the now standard featurette, audio commentary from Smith and writer Kim Fuller, and a peculiar thing called an "action overload"--essentially the trailer without the voiceover. --Phil Udell

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	High Heels Featurette, Audio Commentary With Mel Smith And Kim Fuller, Action Overload
Subtitles:	English
Year:	2001
Release Date:	June 15, 2006
Runtime:	85 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 888395
Keywords:	High, Comedy, General, Low, Drama, Heels, Lifes, Elevation
Genre:	Drama