It was always going to be a brave move to bring another version of Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock to the big screen. Yet there’s enough of an identity within director Rowan Joffe’s take on the material to give the film a distinction of its own. Joffe recruits Sam Riley, Helen Mirren, John Hurt and Andrea Riseborough for the film, and steers a path that’s slightly different from the book. Nonetheless, the end result remains a solid thriller, with lots of little reasons to commend it.

It’s an incredibly stylish Brighton Rock, for starters, which has both pros and cons. On the plus side, it’s always an interesting film to look at. The negative? Well, there’s an argument that said stylings do get in the way just a little. But then you get some strong performances, that swing things in Brighton Rock’s favour anyway. Sam Riley, impressive in Control, is on fine form here, and leads a strong cast. The end result is never likely to be regarded as a much-talked-about classic, certainly. But this Brighton Rock nonetheless has more than you might expect in the tank, and makes for an enjoyable, interesting thriller. --Jon Foster