The 51st State Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Nice Wheels. Dirty Deals. And One Mean Mother In A Kilt.
Have a good trip.
Have a Nice Trip
In a world of shady characters and dirty deals, this is just business as usual.
Elmo McElroy (Jackson) is a streetwise American master chemist who heads to England to sell his special new formula - a powerful, blue concoction guaranteed to take you to 'the 51st state.' McElroy's new product delivers a feeling 51 times more powerful than any thrill, any pleasure, any high in history. But his plans for a quick, profitable score go comically awry when he gets stuck in Liverpool with an unlikely escort (Carlyle) and his ex-girlfriend (Mortimer) and becomes entangled in a bizarre web of double-dealing and double-crosses.
| Samuel L. Jackson | Elmo McElroy |
| Meat Loaf | The Lizard |
| Emily Mortimer | Dakota Parker |
| Robert Carlyle | Felix DeSouza |
| Rhys Ifans | |
| Sean Pertwee | |
| Ricky Tomlinson | |
| Nigel Whitmey | L.A. Highway Patrol |
| Robert Jezek | Priest |
| Jake Abraham | Konokko |
| Mac McDonald | Mr. Davidson |
| Aaron Swartz | Mr. Yuri |
| David Webber | Mr. Jones |
| Michael J. Reynolds | Mr. Escobar |
| Sonny Muslim | Tommy, Boy in Plane |
| Barbara Barnes | Boy's Mother |
| Junix Nocian | Mr. Ho-Fat |
| Paul Barber | Frederick |
| Ronny Yu |
6.10 out of 10 (11282 votes)
Visitor Reviews
catatonic state more like
posted on 13 Jul 2009As a film enthusiast, I very rarely stop watching a film before its conclusion, no matter what my opinion. However, in this case I had to make an exception. I have never been so unentertained by entertainment in all my life. I am certainly no prude, but thought the use of obscenities every other word didn't create a tough guy image of either Jackson or Carlyle's characters, it just exposed an appalling script trying to get laughs from toilet humor because the characters themselves were neither funny, endearing or clever enough to make you sit up and watch. Sean Pertwee's performance is the only one vaguely decent and he looks out of place as a result!....not worth the £2.50 rental cost!!!
Throughly Entertaining
posted on 25 Jun 2009Excellent fun, fast paced action comedy with a great cast. This is easily 'Ronny Yu's' best film to date.This movie is high speed, action fuelled comedy that will entertain most.I think as Brit flicks go, there are certainly better movies, but for pure entertainment value this film has plenty to offer. And 'oh yes' it's another bad-ass outing for Samuel L. Jackson.If your a Liverpool fan you simply have to see this film - Just to see the scene where Felix (Robert Carlyle) enters a pub full of Manchester United fans to start a little trouble before the game.Definitely Worth Watching8/10
Or why we love Samuel L Jackson
posted on 09 Jun 2009Very entertaining, quickly paced, with lots of well done gratuitous violence and profanity. Yes, it is yet another inspired by Pulp Fiction movie, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, and Samuel L. Jackson reminds us once again just why we love him in this kind of movie. Robert Carlyle, as the yank hating brit, and Emily Mortimer, as the hit woman who never misses, turn in both believable yet amusing performances. Don't turn the movie off too quickly because there's more a few seconds into the ending credits.
What a great film.
posted on 04 May 2009Well what a great film. How they got Jackson and Carlyle to play in it I'll never know and the "exploding Robbie Coltrane" scene at the end was a hoot.The whole cinema was laughing out loud at various points through the film. Just real good fun. OK, some blood, well, quite a lot actually. But it had it all, action, love, humour and even footy!
State of surprise at sleeper hit
posted on 24 Apr 2009I remember this being a film I wanted to watch when it was released in the cinemas but I never got a chance to see it. It didn't help when Mum raved about it after watching it on Sky. So last night, Channel 4 gave me the perfect excuse for being late for work today - by showing this film and "Hard Boiled", I'll be a few minutes late after writing the reviews. Yay!Back to "The 51st State" which revolves around Samuel L Jackson, a master chemist and drug producer who flies to Liverpool to secure the final "big deal" before his imminent retirement. The always fantastic Robert Carlyle is Felix, his contact and unwitting accomplice when things go wrong - as they always do in these sort of circumstances. Haven't they played GTA: Vice City? Anyway, the film is a stylish and comical action thriller with it's unusual setting, eccentric characters and unexpected comic twists. Jackson is, without a doubt, the coolest actor in moviedom at the moment. Only he could pull off wearing a kilt in a movie without looking a moron. Carlyle is perhaps a little excessive on the language (both in volume and content) but plays the Scouse stereotype perfectly. One thing this film does very well: almost every Scouse stereotype you can think of is there - car thief, misguided support for Liverpool, skin heads, every third word an expletive. The only unbelievable segment was the car chase which would never have reached the speeds it did in an actual Liverpool street.Despite this, "The 51st State" is a fast-paced and well-made film which deserves more credit than it currently gets. I approached this film thinking that its gimmick was its setting - Liverpool is a million miles from downtown LA or New York, let's face it. But not so - there are so many oddball characters to make the film interesting that Sean Pertwee's straight-faced turn as a dirty cop seems out of place. Everyone else has their tongue firmly in their cheek. The sight of Jackson in a mammoth Seventies afro haircut signals this movie's intentions right from the start (and finish).I have no hesitation in recommending this film. It will undoubtedly appeal to British viewers more than Americans but who cares - it's so refreshing to see that we can make movies like this with a largely British cast at such a standard. Jackson is so cool, it's like he's walking on dry ice and steals every scene he is in. "The 51st State" really does have something for everyone and I'm finding it very hard to find something not to like about this film. It's no "Face/Off" but it's still an enjoyable and exciting film, one which you really should see. Shame you missed it at the cinema, though.
British Crime Drama
posted on 10 Apr 2009Kilt-wearing and golf-obsessed drug maker Samuel L Jackson escapes from Los Angeles crime boss Meatloaf and heads for Merseyside, where he sets up a meeting with dealer Ricky Tomlinson to off-load his new party drug.But hit-girl Emily Mortimer is on his tale and eliminates all his potential buyers.So, with the help of rabid, fast-talking local hood and obsessive Liverpool fan Robert Carlyle, Jackson finds himself on the run and trying to source someone else to sell his drugs to.Plenty of double-barreled action as well as a thrilling car chase follow in this enjoyable, albeit foul-mouthed, British crime comedy.
Brits will love it, Americans probably just wont get it!!!!!
posted on 02 Apr 2009The only people I can imagine not enjoying The 51st State are Americans.Not because its a bad film but because the humour is very British and Americans may have a hard time understanding any humour that is not their own. The casting was nearly perfect except for one exception. I would of cast Jean Boht ( Nellie Boswell, "Bread" (1986)) as Felix DeSouza mother. This would of given the movie that little extra bit of enjoyment. (Anyone who has seen Bread would understand) All in all this movie does what it sets out to do. Entertain!!!!!
Unbelievably awful
posted on 25 Mar 2009I really expected a to have a great time watching this movie, I was really looking forward to it. The first few minutes were pretty cool, credits, opening scene, the music, etc. All very nice. After that, all downhill. In the movie, Jackson's character refers to the drug he creates as P.O.S. 51, and that's exactly what the movie is: a POS. For some reason, Jackson's character wears a kilt throughout the movie, and the director/producers don't even try and fake an explanation, they just leave you to wonder until at the very end, they actually put a blurb on the screen that says something like "we don't know why he wears a kilt all the time". 100% lame. Mix in chaotic characters with no foundation beyond Jackson's initial scene, Meat Loaf and his man breasts trying to be a tough drug kingpin, a ripoff joke on Mr. Bean and his Austin mini, and some indecipherable Liverpool English, and you end up with an achingly miserable movie. There's more, for example the director asking the audience to believe that Jackson would actually be able to carry a bag of golf clubs through airport security checkpoints unmolested (even in pre-Sept 11 time) and more. All in all, I am stunned that Jackson was even involved in this movie, and can only wonder why it took so long to be released. I'm just glad I didn't pay full price to watch it.
Too Much Slapstick, Not Enough Sadism
posted on 13 Feb 2009Samuel Jackson plays Elmo McElroy, a pharmacist working for a major drug dealer, nicknamed The Lizard even though Meat Loaf seems not hugely lacertilian, even with a red blotch covering half his face. McElroy becomes disgruntled with his job & decides to double-cross his boss. Everybody in the movie's a criminal, a lowlife or a crooked cop but clearly The Lizard is meant to be the "bad" bad guy but they don't give him nearly enough bad stuff to do, so it's not clear why McElroy no longer wants to work for him after 30 years. Maybe he was unhappy with the pension plan?Jackson's usually fun to watch but he's not given enough to do either: he has a kilt (which all the British characters call a skirt or a dress) & a set of golf clubs (which he puts to good use a la Jackie Chan) & storms around Liverpool antagonizing the locals (who of course hate Americans to begin with). He has to deliver a lot of pedestrian lines like "What the hell did you do to this fish?" (Actually I thought that batch of fish & chips looked pretty good, it was a shame to see it fly out the car window. Oh well, maybe the pigeons had a nice meal.) But he handles it all pretty authoritatively except for a long inane speech delivered at a rave club to people who are probably too stoned to remember their own names, let alone his oratory. Then he takes handfuls of the supposed wonder drug he's trying to sell for $20 million & flings these out into the crowd. Interesting form of test-marketing.Clearly we're not supposed to worry about annoying little plot details, e.g. for whom are the Skinheads working & how do they happen to have access to a laboratory? They're just there for "local color." We're just meant to relax & enjoy the ride, such as the umpteenth movie car chase in which the car gets trashed, other cars collide & things on the sidewalk go flying. (Odd how pedestrians never seem to get killed in these car chases, e.g. a mother out with her young kids. Maybe that would detract from our enjoyment of the mayhem?) We're supposed to chuckle at the Mini-Cooper, apparently the world's smallest car ("The Bourne Identity" had one ealier this year). Bullet-riddled bodies abound, but they don't belong to characters who've had enough screen time to register any impact on us. By the way, for a country that supposedly has a lot of gun restrictions, gangsters in these recent English movies seem to have arsenals that would've made the Taliban envious, & so many gangsters get shot to death one would think they'd run out of gangsters at some point.The supporting cast are mostly okay, I didn't know any of the Brits except Robert Carlyle whose Felix De Souza seemed a pale imitation of the Scottish thug he played in "Trainspotting," & why give him such a strange name? Just to add to the general eccentricity? Emily Mortimer as the supposedly feared hit-woman didn't do much for me. If only Emily Watson had played the part... oh well, why dream.Wonder if I'm the only one who would be blissfully happy if no future movie intoduced it's main characters with a series of freeze frames giving name and/or occupation. That device is really, really, really tired. A Danish movie called "Pusher" did it also, & if there's ever an Arab gangster movie, I suppose we'll be introduced to "Muhammed," "Muhammed" & "Muhammed," or maybe "Ali..."Bottom line, this is a letdown for director Ronny Yu after his stylish, sinister, darkly humorous & vastly underappreciated "Bride of Chucky." Rent that after seeing this, you won't believe it's the same director.SPOILER FOR THE BENEFIT OF FEMALE FANS OF SAMUEL JACKSON:He does a nude scene right at the end....but is only seen from the rear. Sorry. (It would've been amusing if he'd arived at the door to his new mansion only to find it locked. "Damn, left my key in my kilt...")
a great action comedy
posted on 18 Jan 2009I recently saw this movie since it was released in Europe prior to USA and enjoyed it a lot. The plot was so and so but with an interesting sub plot involving Liverpool vs. Man U at Anfield which will probably not sink in with American audiences. Both the acting and casting was very good especially the chemistry between Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Carlyle. Overall i would give this movie 8 simply for the entertaining factor.
The 51st poor "Lock stock" clone
posted on 14 Jan 2009Yet another British crime flick, obviously inspired by the success of `Lock Stock', although for some strange reason major player Samuel L. Jackson got involved in this annoying mess. This is bottom of the barrel stuff, with the twist being that its set in Liverpool instead of London, and involves a whole array of horrible characters chasing brilliant scientist Jackson's new `wonder drug'. There is not one person in this film you will give two hoots about, nobody is funny and Jackson seems to sleepwalk his way through the whole film, obviously bored with the dialogue of `f**k, f**k, f**k, f**k' which the writer sees fit to substitute for a good script. I suppose he may fool some with that but most will see through this and see the paper thin story for what it is, pretty poor stuff– saying that, it certainly isn't the worst of its kind – that crown goes to the truly dreadful `Rancid Aluminium'!
Comparison's are what kill this film
posted on 06 Jan 2009Formula 51, to me, wanted to badly to mimic the cool characteristics of films like Snatch and in doing so left behind elements which were necessary to get there. The script found the film with it's first fault when it was clear that during the writing process things like a flowing, rich and intelligent script were replaced by excessive overly 'Cool' dialogue, the f word and a narrative which shamelessly places the characters in situations with the sole purpose of them showing how witty (in a dialogue sense) they can be. And yes, I will admit, at times it works and you do enjoy some of this but it is overall tedious and relies far to heavy on this to make this film.On the acting front I noticed pretty quickly how the actors saw their characters were written and just played with it (with the exception of Sam L Jackson who seemed to kick into auto pilot and let his cool persona shine through on his part). I think in the context this was a good choice by the actors, this movie was not a masterpiece and they treated it appropriately. But still, the characters lacked charisma and charm. Even the always likable Samual L Jackson failed to really strike a chord with me.I guess I semi enjoyed the film but still felt as though it was trying to be something more and failed. I keep thinking it wanted to be Snatch, but to be, it needed the characters, the pace, the dialogue (subtlety needed) and the overall richness that Snatch possessed. Try to not make comparisons upon viewing, and take it as no more than a piece of entertainment. 5/10
Carlyle, Jackson and Mortimer being awesome
posted on 25 Dec 2008This movie was excellent.Elmo (Samuel L.) is a chemist who travels to Britain to market a new drug, meeting Felix DeSouza (Robert Carlyle) and Dakota (Emily Mortimer) in his adventures.I'd seen Emily Mortimer in The Kid, but that hadn't prepared me for what an excellent actor she is. In the 51st State, she plays an assassin who needs to make one more kill before she's free of her contract. She's a strong female lead who doesn't have to spout off feminist lines or practise 'girl power' to be kickass - she just is.Robert Carlyle fits right into the role of a loveable larrakin whose main aim is to watch the soccer. Samuel L is a cool mofo as usual, playing a genius with an interesting line of work.The plot was interesting, the one liners hilarious and the action entertaining, and with some smaller roles played by Rhys Ifans and Meatloaf, I can't fault this movie at all.
Excellent Black Humour Movie
posted on 09 Dec 2008I couldn't believe the poor ratings this movie got. It is one of my all time favourites. There is a great cast. Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle are 2 of the best actors on this planet. This is a must see movie. I thought it was hilarious with a great story. Some scenes are so true tolife. It's like looking out the window. There were a few moans about it being filmed in Liverpool. It probably should have been Glasgow or Edinburgh as Liverpool isn't really much of a city anymore. Without giving anything away, Samuel L Jackson does wear a kilt. I think he thought he was going to Scotland. Emily Mortimer is a honey. I like it when she visits Robert Carlyle's mum and she asks if she still doing her job - It is so neat.
A Quirky, Fish-Out-Of-Water Flick
posted on 18 Oct 2008I am not really sure what the appeal of this movie actually is. It's definitely not the action, since fights are simple and few and far between. I wouldn't think its the comedy, since the premise of pretty much every joke is the same. It seems the majority of the humor in this movie is Samuel L. Jackson's character dealing with the differences between England and America and Robert Carlyle's character's disgust with Americans. Of course, every-so-often, we get a dash of toilet humor to mix things up. Pretty simple. Nothing special.And yet, somehow, this movie manages to stay entertaining enough throughout the bulk of it. My only guess is that it comes from the charisma of the cast and characters. Samuel L. Jackson defies logic by kicking ass in just about every movie he's in, whether the flick's good or not. Robert Carlyle's energy and enthusiasm is enough to prevent me from getting annoyed with his constant whining. Emily Mortimer plays the soft-spoken, sexy assassin hired to bring in Jackson's character. And Meat Loaf....well....Meat Loaf bothered the hell out of me. His role as the Lizard, the big-time American drug dealer and previous employer to Jackson, is over-the-top and completely unconvincing as someone who would have rose to power in the American drug market. At times, he is just downright aggravating to watch (especially when he starts ranting and referring to himself in the third-person).Fortunately, Meat Loaf (and a nearly as annoying Rhys Ifans)are not enough to completely drag the film down. It manages to stay quirky enough to keep entertaining and you shouldn't feel as if you completely wasted the last 92 minutes of your life. My advice? Check it out once, it's a hit or miss.
This is what all British films should be!
posted on 16 Oct 2008This has class, style, wit, humour, blood, gore, swearing, fast action and a fantastic well crafted script, acted brilliantly and directed with flare. Britain invented the action movie when it made James Bond. It also invented the action comedy when it did The Italian Job. America then used the template for both and has made a fortune out of it ever since. But people who know absolutely nothing about the history of film (and they happen to be mostly critics of this film - and a minority at that) bemoan that we can't make films like this: WHEN WE INVENTED THEM! Here at last is Britain rightly claiming back our genre and doing it well. It absolutely thrashes those very poor Guy Ricthie efforts and people who comment that this film is like Pulp Fiction.... WHAT???? When was the last time you saw a 10 minute car chase in the middle of a Tarantino flick? NEVER. People are listening to Samuel L. Jackson in his quintessential Samuel L. Jackson way deliver Stel Pavlou's lines and are seeing a Tarantino connection. A tenuous link at best, testement perhaps to the ecxellence of the script and by no means an insult to either writer. But Pavlou is British and has written some devillish British witty lines for everybody else. Would Tarantino have known who Jim'll Fix It is to have written that line for Robert Carlyle? No he would not! Here at last is an all out cartoon, comic book look at Britain, and the tarquins who take themselves too seriously should perhaps avoid this film, if only because they'll moan because they didn't think of it first. Oh and Samuel L. Jackson wears a kilt. Fabulous! I for one am sick of poncy twee middle class romantic romps. This is the real deal.
Best Spin-Off Ever
posted on 30 Sep 2008It's easy to critique 'Formula 51' and personify the comic book guy from the 'Simpsons'. "Worst Tarantino remake ever!"... DON'T This is not a typical Spin-Off of crime/comedy films of recent such as 'Who Is Cletis Tout' & 'Get Shorty'. Realistically, Tarantino is primarily a Spin-Doctor himself, brother mixes a mean party.Pampered with Brittish Ghetto humor, 'Formula 51' is better titled 'An American Drug Dealer in Liverpool'. Samuel L. resumes his Bad MoFo persona, this time as a Pharmacist gone underground. He has developed a powerfully suggestive drug known as POS 51, more powerful than any drug on the market. After betraying The Lizard (Meat Loaf in a very tolerable role as a sleezy druglord) he ends up in Liverpool and situations just get worse from there. It seems every time Jackson get's close to sealing the deal, sh@t hits the fan (sometimes literally). Together with local hoodlum/tourguide Carlyle, they find themselves escaping assasin's bullets, crooked police and even worse the rival soccer team. With a cute love story amongst theives in the middle 'F 51' delivers a well humored, action ladden movie worth renting.Bottom Line: Fans of the genre without ego-hatred for spin-offs will delight in this well constructed action/comedy. All other comic book store employees will continue to munch on their junk-food blabering that they could of done it better.
One of the better attempts at stealing Guy Ritchie's throne
posted on 22 Sep 2008(Minor Spoilers) The 51st State has two things going against it. The first is that it is yet another independent British film about drugs and those that deal in drugs. It is enriched with several cheeky characters, all sporting interesting accents that speak lots of witty, profanity filled dialogue and there are several diverse plot elements, which somehow all become connected towards the end.In other words, it's another Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels type of movie. Ever since that movie became a success, our video stores have been filled with poor attempts to cash in on that success. Out of 100 Lock, Stock & Snatch type movies, there has been only two that I've seen since have been any good, and they are Go and Sexy Beast. Is the 51st State then, yet another botched attempt at cashing in on Guy Ritchie's share of the movie market? I'll get to that a bit later!The second thing it has against it, is that it concentrates on all the dark stereotypical concepts of the North West of England. Now I've lived here all my life and I did not recognise most of what I saw. This movie shows us the dirtiest looking buildings, the most rundown areas, features the most insane bunch of characters ever and somehow they managed to find the most skanky, horrible looking food I've ever seen. If my fish & chips ever looked like the one Samuel Jackson is given, I'd throw it away as well, as for that breakfast.UGH!So is it a bad movie. Well you'd think from the review so far that it is, but it is not, in fact it is very good. I was a bit put off by all of the above as I watched it, but the movie makes up for it in so many ways that I couldn't help but love it.A kilt wearing Samuel L Jackson is a master chemist who, because of a mistake 30 years ago, works for a nasty drug lord, known as The Lizard (played by MeatLoaf) in California. Sick of being owned and used, Sam travels to Liverpool, England to make one last big deal before retiring. There he meets up with Robert Carlyle, an American hating thug, whose only job is to transport Sam to a meeting with a local drug dealer.Sam plans to sell the formula to a super drug he's invented, called POS-51, but not all goes to plan as several rival gangs all want a piece of the action, as well as some corrupt police. Throw in a lethal, but beautiful looking Assassin (who sure does look like a young Demi Moore) and you have a tangled web of deceit, mayhem and lots of action.If you can get past the Lock, Stock link and if you can get past the stereotypical imagery (I've seen a few bad reviews from when it was premiered in Liverpool and it seems the basis of all the negativity, is they do not like how their city was portrayed) then this is a very enjoyable movie. It's well acted, funny and full of action, including one scene that has Sam using a Golf club as a weapon, and believe me, if he fights like that with a light sabre in Episode 2, he's going to be awesome! Actually, according to various sources on the web, the current US release date for 51st State is 31st May 2002, so you will probable see him in action with a light sabre, before you see he wield a golf club!Sure it reminded my of a Guy Ritchie movie, sure I didn't like to see my country's 'dirty laundry,' but from the very first minute, to the very last, I had a really good time, and how many movies can you say that about this year? My favorite scene, is one where Robert's character explains to Sam's character, what the English expression, `It's the Dog's Bollocks' actually means.
Pointless, Vulgar, and boring SPOILERS
posted on 24 Aug 2009Sam Jackson is really wasted he plays a drug dealer who invents a new drug that would be legal and goes to england to sell it and runs into all kinds of trouble it is a mindless ripoff of Snatch and the film makes fun of killing and violence for example a man explodes and dies and we're supposed to laugh at that don't rent of buy this movie 3\10 RATED R FOR VIOLENCE, STRONG PROFANITY, DRUG USE, CRUDE HUMOR