| Age Rating | 15 |
| Director | Barnaby Thompson |
| Runtime | 1h 33min |
| Release Date UK | 23 October 2020 |
| Synopsis | Pixie Hardy sets out to avenge her mother’s death and attempts a heist that will give her the means to leave her small-town life behind. When the plan goes horribly wrong, she’s forced to team up with a pair of misfits who are clearly in over their heads. On the run from a criminal gang of priests and nuns, the trio tries to scheme and swindle anyone they come across.. |
Introduction To Pixie
This film would not work without spot on casting for Pixie.
-Garry Llewellyn, The Silver Hedgehog
Directed by Barnaby Thompson (2007 and 2009 St Tinian’s Movies), Pixie is an Irish black comedy, that takes its name from its central character played by Olivia Cooke. Daughter of gang boss Dermot O’Brien (Colm Meaney), Pixie sets out a plan to avenge her mother’s death, mastermind a heist and escape to art school in San Francisco . The plan goes wrong, and two young men (Ben Hardy and Daryl McCormack) inadvertently get involved. Once a slightly psychotic Pixie realises that the lads have 1 Million pounds worth of drugs on them, and no clue what to do with it, she insists on teaming up with them as they are chased across the Irish countryside by gangsters and priests with guns!
Pixie Standout Casting
Pixie Casting Rating 10 out of 10
Olivia Cooke as Pixie
Ben Hardy as Frank McCullen & Darly Mccormack as Harland McKenna
Colm Meaney as Dermot O’Brien
Alec Baldwin as Alec Baldwin as Father Hector McGrath
Sound/Music/Score
Pixie Sound Rating 7 Out Of 10
David Holmes (Ocean’s Eleven, Killing Eve, Haywire) and Gerry Diver (award winning record producer) teamed up to co-score Pixie.
The pair have done an okay job. The score lets the film breathe and only kicks in to aid the activities on screen. A mix of synth and Irish instruments (I suspect an Irish Bouzouki and a fiddle are involved) Nothing seemed jarring or out of place and was nice to listen to. Needle drops are used to comedic effect and are weaved into the film with skill and care, again blending into the background. For example ‘Hit Or Miss’ by Odetta starting a scene, moving to a background track playing on car radio and then being referred to by one of the characters.
Pixie is presented in basic Dolby Digital and the mix works great, no issues with sound quality, even though its not the best standard.
Sadly, I have not been able to locate the films score / soundtrack on streaming services. Leaving the listener to locate individual tracks and create their own playlist.
Sample Score..
Sound/Music/Score
Pixie Sound Rating 7 Out Of 10
David Holmes (Ocean’s Eleven, Killing Eve, Haywire) and Gerry Diver (award winning record producer) teamed up to co-score Pixie.
The pair have done an okay job. The score lets the film breathe and only kicks in to aid the activities on screen. A mix of synth and Irish instruments (I suspect an Irish Bouzouki and a fiddle are involved) Nothing seemed jarring or out of place and was nice to listen to. Needle drops are used to comedic effect and are weaved into the film with skill and care, again blending into the background. For example ‘Hit Or Miss’ by Odetta starting a scene, moving to a background track playing on car radio and then being referred to by one of the characters.
Pixie is presented in basic Dolby Digital and the mix works great, no issues with sound quality, even though its not the best standard.
Sadly, I have not been able to locate the films score / soundtrack on streaming services. Leaving the listener to locate individual tracks and create their own playlist.
Video
Sound Rating 7 Out Of 10
David Holmes (Ocean’s Eleven, Killing Eve, Haywire) and Gerry Diver (award winning record producer) teamed up to co-score Pixie.
The pair have done an okay job. The score lets the film breathe and only kicks in to aid the activities on screen. A mix of synth and Irish instruments (I suspect an Irish Bouzouki and a fiddle are involved) Nothing seemed jarring or out of place and was nice to listen to. Needle drops are used to comedic effect and are weaved into the film with skill and care, again blending into the background. For example ‘Hit Or Miss’ by Odetta starting a scene, moving to a background track playing on car radio and then being referred to by one of the characters.
Pixie is presented in basic Dolby Digital and the mix works great, no issues with sound quality, even though its not the best standard.
Sadly, I have not been able to locate the films score / soundtrack on streaming services. Leaving the listener to locate individual tracks and create their own playlist.
Pixie Video Rating 5 Out Of 10
We watched Pixie on DVD from Cinema Paradiso. The DVD format works perfectly fine for this type of film. No Blu-ray or 4k located at the time of writing, and I suspect we will not see it released on these formats.
Overall Thoughts of Pixie
Barnaby Thompson’s Fragile Films have carved out a particular niche of producing fun yet forgettable British comedies (think Spice World, the St. Trinian’s movie remakes and Burke and Hare). This trend continues with Pixie. A film that has fun playing with the styles of directors such as Tarantino and Guy Richie and Sergio Leone whilst not settling on what direction to go in.
It’s a shame that Thompson does not come close to hitting the high bar that these directors set. Not to say this is a bad thing, it evokes a certain level of nostalgia and makes me want to go back and watch Snatch again.
Pixie doesn’t have the sharpest script. It has a convoluted family plot running through the film, this involves a stepbrother channelling ‘a lot of hate’ towards Pixie, the two aforementioned gangs having beef with each other. Maybe it’s the films 93 min run time, or maybe its Thompson’s writing but it’s obvious that no time was spent in production considering any character development
All this considered, it was nice to watch a relatively simple well-acted film that was not over thought. Cooke is definitely the standout from this film and I hope she goes on to bigger and better things.
I wonder what Fragile films will bring us next?
All this considered, it was nice to watch a relatively simple well-acted film that was not over thought. Cooke is definitely the standout from this film and I hope she goes on to bigger and better things.
I wonder what Fragile films will bring us next?The Silver Hedgehog: Rating
The Script / Screenplay - 6
Casting - 10
Music / Score - 7
Visual Effects and Costumes - 10
Video Quality - 5
7.6
Recommended
End Credits
Age Rating 15
Release Date 23 October 2020
Directors:Barnaby Thompson
Producers:Preston Thompson, Preston Thompson
Writers:Preston Thompson
Studio:Paramount
Genres:British Films, Comedy, Drama, Thrillers
Staring
Staring Olivia Cooke,
Fra Fee, Rory Fleck-Byrne,
Pat Shortt,
Frankie McCafferty,
Esme Thompson,
Chris Walley,
Ben Hardy,
Daryl McCormack,
Colm Meaney,
Packy Lee,
Turlough Convery,
Olivia Byrne,
Brenda McNeill,
Alec Baldwin,
Barbara Adair,
Donal O’Farrell,
Ned Dennehy,
David Rawle,
Eoin Duffy
Runtime 1 hr 33 min
Editor for Silver Hedgehog JJ
Post Credit Extras
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This site is a non-profit project..
As a small, independent website run by Garry in his spare time, we need your help to continue providing great content.
Please donate to help The Silver Hedgehog grow. All funds are put back into the website, and help provide new features.
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Buy Me a Coffee is a service that allows you to make a voluntary one-off donation in the form of a cup of coffee.
1 x coffee = £3.00
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Meet Garry
An office worker by day and blogger by night. Garry is the creator and writer of The Silver Hedgehog. A Sci-Fi geek (don’t mention Terry Pratchett or Isaac Asimov unless you have a spare hour) and avid film fan (noted for watching Titanic 8 times at the cinema 🤩). Enjoys writing reviews and blogs in his spare time, and is waiting for the day he gets paid for it!
