The Wee Man

The violent past of onetime Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris yields a banal biopic in "The Wee Man," returning multihyphenate Ray Burdis ("Love, Honor and Obey") to the director's chair after an absence of 13 years.

A crudely directed, typically unreliable gangster biopic, based on a memoir by Glaswegian hard man Paul Ferris.

As a whole, it's forgettable.

Tediously self-satisfied at best, like a shady old bar bore holding you hostage.

But here, the various power-plays and shifting alliances feel like musical chairs, while [Ray] Burdis's attempts to make [Paul] Ferris sympathetic are undercooked.

Blows any intrigue by piling on one gangster movie clich after another.

Manages to disappoint in every respect.

It's all rather familiar, well enough acted yet not entirely convincing.

A clichd, wearily familiar true-life crime drama clearly made on the cheap.

On the whole, The Wee Man is a fascinating story well told - the first steps in making a decent movie.