44 Inch Chest is a 2009 British gangster film directed by Malcolm Venville.
It's the story of Colin Diamond (Ray Winstone), a wealthy car dealer with implied organized crime connections, whose wife Liz (Joanne Whalley) coldly informs him one evening that their marriage is over and that she's been carrying on an affair with a handsome and much younger French waiter. The enraged Colin suffers a complete emotional breakdown during which he beats her up, smashes up much of what's in his own house, and is later discovered lying helpless and nearly catatonic with grief on the floor by his buddy Archie (Tom Wilkinson).
Archie and his shady buddies have just the plan to snap Colin out of his sorry state - they kidnap "loverboy" from the posh restaurant where he works, lock him up in the eponymous chest, and cart him off to an empty warehouse where Colin can exact his revenge.
Much of the film consists of dialog that showcases the motley crew of gangsters (or at least wannabe gangsters) who planned the kidnapping: in addition to Archie, there's their vicious ringleader and elder statesman Old Man Peanut (John Hurt), the suave homosexual Meredith (Ian McShane), and the young and thuggish Mal (Stephen Dillane). They all egg Colin on to beat and eventually finish off "loverboy", but as the story progresses we find out that this isn't really what Colin needs or wants to find peace.
This film provide examples of:
- All Gays are Promiscuous: Meredith tells Colin that he prefers anonymous sexual encounters with random young men to the headache of long-term relationships.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Colin decides to spare loverboy's life and set him free because the young man showed genuine remorse for the pain that his thoughtless affair with Liz caused, and because he showed Colin much more compassion than Liz ever did.
- The Cameo: Steven Berkoff as Tippi, Meredith's gambling buddy.
- Country Matters: You seldom go more than a couple of sentences without one of the characters (particularly Peanut) calling someone a cunt.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Colin gets liquored up following his violent break-up with Liz.
- Ensemble Cast: While the main focus is on Colin and his predicament, many scenes are devoted to the lives and personalities in his motley crew of friends, particularly Meredith and Peanut.
- Evil Old Folks: Old Man Peanut is a foul-mouthed, bigoted, and viciously sadistic old gangster, though one who has become increasingly frail with age.
- Gayngster: Meredith is openly gay and connected to the London organized crime scene.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Old Man Peanut congratulates Colin for beating up Liz for her infidelity, and in his rambling diatribes uses Liz as a case study in how manipulative and faithless women can be.
- Imagine Spot: Towards the end, Colin's friends step outside the room so that Colin can exact his revenge. In what follows, Colin has imaginary conversations both with his friends and with Liz.
- London Gangster: The main characters have some connection to the London underground crime scene, though whether they're actively involved in organized crime or just peripheral hangers-on and associates is unclear (Colin is a car dealer). Old Man Peanut boasts of his past connection to the Cray Brothers.
- Manly Tears: Tough guy Colin breaks down sobbing as he tells loverboy how devastated he was by Liz's infidelity.
- Momma's Boy: Archie is a middle-aged bachelor who still lives with and dotes on his elderly mother.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: What Colin does to his unfaithful wife.
- Shout-Out: When discussing how treacherous and manipulative women are, Old Man Peanut references Samson and Delilah from the Old Testament, as well as Cecil B. DeMille's film of the Biblical story.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: All of the main characters, but especially Old Man Peanut.
- Snooty Haute Cuisine: The high-end French restaurant where loverboy works.Archie (to the restaurant patrons during the kidnapping): Concentrate on your snails!
- Straight Gay: Meredith likes to talk about his random sexual encounters with handsome young men, but has no stereotypical Camp Gay traits. Quite the opposite, he's a suave tough guy.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: After Colin's friends leave the room, he becomes increasingly distraught and imagines conversations with them and his wife that become increasingly incoherent. At one point we see Liz's head on the body of Old Man Peanut and vice-versa.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Old Man Peanut and Meredith spend much of their time insulting and ridiculing one another (Peanut in particular taunts Meredith's homosexuality), but in the end they go off to have a drink together at Meredith's favorite gay bar.
