Skip to content
Blue Iguana is one of those films where I’m not really sure *what* I watched, but I know I really enjoyed it, as all the scenes put one after the other don’t feel like the sum of their parts, and the film does, at times, feel less than coherent, but at the heart of it all is a titular diamond which Katherine Rookwood (Phoebe Fox) wants so she can get the baddie Arkady (Peter Polycarpou) off her back for good, as she’s in debt to him.
Helping her out, even though they’re often at odds with her, are Eddie (Sam Rockwell) and Paul (Ben Schwartz), while wanting to bump them off is Deacon Bradshaw (Peter Ferdinando), a middle-aged bad guy with a huge mullet and ripped jeans, and also a shouty, sweary Manc, who makes Shameless’ Frank Gallagher seem polite, as he shouts at Rockwell, “I’m gonna shoot you between the head”, and to Fox, “I’m gonna set fire to your tits… with petrol!”
With UK and US gangs fighting it out for the ownership of this diamond, lines like “You stink of ketchup and farts!”, a slo-mo gunfight, and with some great ’80s tunes including The B-52s’ My Private Idaho, M’s Pop Muzik and The Only Ones’ Another Girl Another Planet – making this feel like a pop video at times, using music to punctuate a scene, this is a film which doesn’t really make a huge amount of sense, but is a great fun watch, and there’s great chemistry between Fox and Rockwell, as their characters clearly fancy each other big-time.
Also, Phoebe Fox *so* has the geek thing going on, so when she’s sat in a cafe with crumbs all around her mouth, if that’s not one of the sexiest things you’ve seen in cinema this year, you’re not human.
Overall, Blue Iguana is a daft crime caper, but everyone onscreen has memorable scenes, even if they’re only in a cameo, such as Amanda Donohoe, Frances Barber, then Simon Callow who with and other elderly gentlemen who are recruited by the good guys to get the gist of what the baddies are sayting in a bar, reciting back the strong language in Received pronunciation.
Blue Iguana is released in cinemas today, and is available to pre-order on DVD and Amazon Video, ahead of its release on October 8th.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 101 minutes
Studio: Signature Entertainment
Year: 2018
Format: 2.35:1
Released: October 5th 2018
Rating: 8/10
Director: Hadi Hajaig
Producers: Hadi Hajaig and Tom Lassally
Screenplay: Hadi Hajaig
Music: Simon Lambros
Cast:
Eddie: Sam Rockwell
Katherine Rookwood: Phoebe Fox
Paul Driggs: Ben Schwartz
Deacon Bradshaw: Peter Ferdinando
Arkady: Peter Polycarpou
Tommy Tresham: Al Weaver
Dawn Bradshaw: Amanda Donohoe
Princess: Frances Barber
Uncle Martin: Simon Callow
Lenny Bindel: Anton Saunders
Silas: Andre Flynn
Waitress: Jenny Bede
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.