This is a drama based on the real life activities of Donald Nielson played by Donald Sumpter. He was an ex soldier who had joined civvy street and his business had failed. So he started robbing Post Offices using a sawn off shotgun. He used his army survival training to hide out in woods and generally be a bit of a loon.
His home life is depicted as him being a misogynistic martinet and all round nasty bloke – he was never going to win 'father of the year'. Then he accidentally shoots a sub Post Master on one of his 'jobs' and his crimes take on a more serious hue. This leads him to commit one of the most notorious crimes of the seventies. That was the kidnapping of Leslie Whittle a 16 year old heiress.
Now this is quite well made, there is violence and some nudity (which seemed pointless) but it tries to stick to the facts for the most part. There are some great pieces of observational cinema from the time and I loved seeing how the World worked back when I was a lad. It is far from a 'feel good' film and those that remember the time will probably recall certain aspects of the case differently. But for me this was a well made and acted time piece of a film about one despicable man and his crimes.
His home life is depicted as him being a misogynistic martinet and all round nasty bloke – he was never going to win 'father of the year'. Then he accidentally shoots a sub Post Master on one of his 'jobs' and his crimes take on a more serious hue. This leads him to commit one of the most notorious crimes of the seventies. That was the kidnapping of Leslie Whittle a 16 year old heiress.
Now this is quite well made, there is violence and some nudity (which seemed pointless) but it tries to stick to the facts for the most part. There are some great pieces of observational cinema from the time and I loved seeing how the World worked back when I was a lad. It is far from a 'feel good' film and those that remember the time will probably recall certain aspects of the case differently. But for me this was a well made and acted time piece of a film about one despicable man and his crimes.