Get Carter is a rough tough no nonsense British gangster flick.

Michael Caine plays Jack Carter who seems to have been in London so long. He has lost all traces of his Geordie accent.

Carter travels back to Newcastle on the train to attend his brother Frank's supposedly accidental death. Carter is not convinced that his death was an accident and makes a few enquiries.

Carter also plans to go to South America with his mistress and asks his niece Doreen to join him there. When some henchmen arrive late at night trying to force Carter to get the next train back to London. It confirms that his brother's death was murder.

Carter's search takes him to an underworld gangster called Kinnear who seemed to have coerced Doreen to take part in a pornographic film. Carter's brother found out about it. It also leaves Carter distraught as it is alleged that he might be Doreen's real father.

Michael Caine has always said that he was never happy with the portrayal of British gangster in movies. They are shown to be stupid or funny when they are actually brutal.

He shows Jack Carter brooding with a sense of quiet menace. Almost amoral with businesslike violence and he's always ready for an opportunity for some casual sex.

Director Mike Hodges has a documentary type setting but has gone for a hard boiled detective approach as Carter investigates. The story does get complex as it deals with people plotting against each other and betrayal.

Carter's mistress is the girlfriend of his London crime boss. The movie is set in a working class part of Newcastle which itself is going through change. There is a character called Brumby who is involved in the renewal of the city.

Hodges also adds some nice lurid touches to the grittiness. When Carter telephones his mistress in London from Newcastle for some phone sex. The landlady of the boarding house rocks back and fro in her rocking chair as she listens on. There is also some humour. When Brumby suddenly disappears and the police arrive. One of the architects that Brumby had a meeting with notes that they are unlikely to be paid.

Get Carter was a movie that was always shown on television late at night usually in an edited version. It was only from the 1990s onwards it started to acquire a cult reputation. It was cited as an influence by American directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh.

London criminal Michael Caine returns to Newcastle for his straight-arrow brother's funeral. The police say he got drunk and killed himself in a driving accident, but little bits don't add up. Caine pokes around Newcastle's dirtier side and becomes convinced it was a murder. But who and why?

It's a thoroughly unlikable movie, from Caine's seething performance through Wolfgang Suchitsky's overcast Technicolor lighting through the apathetic and evil people who inhabit the movie's world. At the same time, this neo-noir take on the Elizabethan Revenge drama is a brilliant exposition on on the dark side. There's no one to admire here, no dark humor. The people in charge are not misfits. John Osborne, as a local crook, isn't a man oppressed by his environment, searching for a meaning that isn't there. He's a smart man who has judged his society accurately and coldly applied its rules to his own profit.

Caine's self-loathing rage is likewise efficiently applied. The police won't come and save anyone, they won't avenge anyone, they won't restore order by finding the bad guys. They are almost unseen, a howling car showing up too late, unable to stop or even notice Caine's spree. There is no justice, just revenge, and application of the rule that mad dogs must be put down.

"Get Carter" is a very nasty film. The language is rough, there's a lot of nudity and there are lots of naked folks. It is NOT a good film to watch with your kids, mother-in-law or Father Jenkins! However, if you don't mind all the sleazy nastiness, it IS awfully entertaining.

The film begins in London. Carter (Michael Caine) is being advised by his mobster friends to stay away from his brother's funeral in Newcastle. However, Carter is determined to go--and determined to learn how his brother died and who is responsible. For the rest of the movie, Carter mucks about Newcastle--hanging about low-lifes and kicking butt. Carter is violent, remorseless and unstoppable in his quest. At first, you have no empathy for the man--after all, he is a brutal mobster. However, when you learn exactly why the brother was killed, you begin to root for Carter. See the film and you'll see what I mean.

This is a very stylish and well made film. Not a lot of plot, but highly entertaining and Caine does a dandy job. Well worth seeing.