Roughly a British version of “The Sopranos” done in the improvisational style of Mike Leigh, “Down Terrace” is the auspicious feature debut of Ben Wheatley, who’s spent a decade directing sitcoms, Web-isodes and commercials while fruitlessly pitching scripts to Hollywood.
He may finally get Hollywood’s attention with this profanely funny comedy he shot in just eight days. It stars his longtime collaborators Robert and Robin Hill as low-level London gangsters sitting around Dad’s flat and arguing among themselves, as well as with their none-too-swift underlings.
Robin Hill shares a credit with Wheatley for the screenplay, the sharpest to come out of the UK since last year’s “In the Loop.” It’s full of funny stuff, from a hitman forced to drag along his 3-year-old when he can’t get a sitter, to one of the goons being asked, “Do you have a Web presence?”