DVD Movie Rating for: The 51st State

3 out of 5

Movie Plot of: The 51st State

Elmo McElroy (Jackson) is a streetwise American master chemist who heads to England to sell his special new formula - a powerful, blue concoction guaranteed to take you to 'the 51st state.' McElroy's new product delivers a feeling 51 times more powerful than any thrill, any pleasure, any high in history. But his plans for a quick, profitable score go comically awry when he gets stuck in Liverpool with an unlikely escort (Carlyle) and his ex-girlfriend (Mortimer) and becomes entangled in a bizarre web of double-dealing and double-crosses.

DVD Production Details of: The 51st State

Director: Ronny Yu

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby

Studio: Columbia Tristar Hom
DVD Features:
Theatrical trailer(s)

Cinemax special: The Making of Formula 51

Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

Cast of the movie: The 51st State

• Samuel L. Jackson .... Elmo McElroy
• Nigel Whitmey .... L.A. Highway Patrol
• Robert Jezek .... Priest
• Emily Mortimer .... Dakota Phillips
• Meat Loaf .... The Lizard (as Meatloaf)
• Jake Abraham .... Konokko
• Mac McDonald (I) .... Mr. Davidson
• Aaron Swartz .... Mr. Yuri
• David Webber .... Mr. Jones
• Michael J. Reynolds .... Mr. Escobar
• Sonny Muslim .... Boy in Plane
• Barbara Barnes .... Boy's Mother
• Junix Nocian .... Mr. Ho-Fat (as Junix Inocian)
• Robert Carlyle .... Felix DeSouza

Photo Gallery of the movie: The 51st State

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size, high resolution photographs

The 51st State

Reviews of the movie: The 51st State

Wildly entertaining but riddled with as many plot holes as bullets, Formula 51 (a.k.a. The 51st State) is a love-it-or-hate-it action comedy that plays like Tarantino on the Thames. It's a raucous hash, highlighted by the sheer pleasure of Samuel L. Jackson--in a kilt, no less--strutting his stuff among denizens of the British underworld. As freelance chemist Elmo McElroy (whose tartan attire remains glibly unexplained), Jackson is perfectly teamed with The Full Monty's Robert Carlyle in a scam involving Elmo's latest pharmaceutical concoction, which promises to yield a fortune on the rave scene. This attracts a loopy British kingpin (the outrageous Rhys Ifans), Elmo's vengeful ex-boss (Meat Loaf), a corrupt cop (Sean Pertwee), and a lovely assassin (Emily Mortimer) with a soft spot for Carlyle. They're all given generous helpings of Stel Pavlou's profanely zesty dialogue, and director Ronny Yu strikes a breezy balance between rampant hilarity and blood-splattering violence. If that's your cup of tea, Formula 51 guarantees a satisfying buzz.

I liked this film - it's a funny combination of US action comedy with British gangster film. The mix works. For example, having gone the non-British drive-on-the-'Right'-side (left) experience, the car race in the Liverpool streets caused me one of the best laughs in recent years. There are more reasons for satisfaction in this film, like the good acting of Samuel Jackson and Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer - so sexy that the next Bond girls auditions should have a look at her, and the English slang and football (the real one!) humor. Sure, the film is problematic for the soft approach to drugs, but it's still a refreshing comedy worth watching. 7/10 on my personal scale.