Writer, director and leading actor Andrew Games storms our screens with stylised 50s flair, bringing back to life a British sub-culture known as Teddy Boys. The movement began after WW2 when gangs of delinquent youths began dressing in Edwardian era fashion. They were originally known as “Cosh Boys” or “Edwardians”, but a newspaper shortened “Edwardians” to “Teddy” and this name seems to have stuck more prominently.
This sets the scene for Dandilicious as we follow follow Marty, the self-proclaimed “King of the Teds”. He’s a sleazy player with a penchant for violence and an unwavering alliance to his Teddy Boy status. Marty likes to believe he strikes fear into the hearts of the other gangs roaming Listminister, the fictional area of London where the film is set. However, an inflated ego and a baseball bat can only carry you so far; the more people Marty pisses off, the more reasons he has to watch his back.
The story follows Marty on several conquests over women and rival gang members. Where ever he goes, trouble isn’t far behind. The multiple fight scenes are very well choreographed and entertaining to watch. To add diversity to the narrative, we get a slightly different perspective on things from one of Marty’s “conquests”. Brenda (Jade Mark) thinks she’s found herself a diamond in the rough. Sure, Marty rides with those beastly Teddy Boys, but he’s different from them, isn’t he? Of course not. Brenda has to learn the hard way that a leopard can’t (and doesn’t want to) change its spots. She finds her heart broken as Marty reveals she was never anything more than a piece of meat to him. Jade Mark plays an excellent character with Brenda, performing against Daryl Blackburn as her weak willed brother, Tom. The only reason Marty and Brenda met is because Marty blackmailed Tom into setting up a date. If there is a hint of humanity under Marty’s baby blue drape, we certainly never see it. That is until Marty has a conversation with his greatest enemy – Big Tony (Christian Greenway). But while it seems the two aren’t so different from each other, their shared struggles won’t stop them beating the daylight out of each other in a final showdown.
The cast supporting the writing and direction of Andrew Games truly do justice to his vision. Of course, Games as our leading gentleman is the main event – and he’s certainly an event worth seeing. The unique storytelling of the narrative definitely suits Games’ acting style as Marty delivers a lot of his lines to camera, breaking the fourth wall. This really helps build up the character as a confident, smooth talking Teddy Boy.
The great music choice in the film is partly thanks to the time period in which Dandilicious is set. Rock and Roll was a pretty new invention in the music world with the likes of Bill Haley and his Comets, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Elvis taking the youth of the time by storm. It’s perhaps the likes of the Teddy Boys that gave Rock and Roll a bad name. Regardless of what people thought at the time, “the Devil’s music” certainly makes the soundtrack of this film one you want to dance along to. The other period elements of Dandilicious are similarly well incorporated with great attention to detail. The costumes are particularly impressive, trumped only by the inclusion of several beautiful classic cars. To be incredibly picky, there are a few things that slipped through the cracks in terms of preserving the 50s mise-en-scene. This includes large “no smoking” signs on the doors of a pub visited by Marty. I think you’d have had your head kicked in in the 50s for hanging a no smoking sign in a pub! The impressive scale of the film and the use of expensive props suggests smaller mistakes should have been negated where possible as the signs could easily have been covered. This really is only a small lapse in the filmic world created by Andrew Games as other elements certainly make up for this. The colour grading used throughout, for example, places the film physically within the past as the slight grain effect gives the impression of an old tape recording. It’s as though we are watching events that were recorded at the time of their occurrence rather than a dramatized recreation.
The film is pretty long at just over two hours and perhaps doesn’t always use this space in the most engaging way. Some of the conversations between Marty and the rival gang members do become a little repetitive, especially Marty’s proclamations about being King of the Teds. For me, this raised a separate issue with the narrative. Marty claims to be King of the Teds, and yet we see not a single other Ted in the film. The rival gangs all have multiple members, but Marty always shows up on his own. So that really begs the question, king of who? The absence of the other Teds makes the gang rival element of the film feel somewhat empty or unfulfilled. He operates entirely alone. Placing the film within the context of its Neo Western genre points towards a theme often found in classic Westerns. Rugged individualism and the solitary hero who separates himself from society are commonly found within Westerns, and can be seen here in Marty’s isolation. Through this lens, Marty becomes the lone cowboy riding into town. Despite the congruity between the isolation of Marty’s character and the genre, there is still an imbalance that feels particularly jarring. What is the purpose of portraying Marty as the lone ranger? In my opinion it doesn’t succeed in making him seem almighty and powerful but rather a foolish loner, clinging onto something that doesn’t exist. King of the Teds? King of no-one more like. Whichever way you look at it, though, the film succeeds in being an entertaining drama that lets the viewer decide whether Marty is a hero or an antihero.
Watch the trailer below!