Crook himself is disappointed with the reaction the film has attracted, particularly from the tube drivers’ union, ASLEF. But you can see their point. It’s hardly a glamorous profession trundling through the tunnels underneath a bustling London.
And the film’s subject matter – a tube driver searching for a suicide victim to earn him a third ‘kill’ and a subsequent hefty payout is never going to be seen as anything else than a horrific tragedy for those drivers who have to deal with the reality of suicides in their working life.No wonder it provoked a passionate protest from Union members at the premiere (link no longer active). The British public may abhor tube strikes, but there will be sympathy for the drivers on this occasion for whom tube suicides are no laughing matter. Judging by the almost universal panning the film has received from critics, however, it appears ASLEF are vindicated in their process. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described Three and Out as “Another depressing, mediocre, muddy-looking British film that wastes an awful lot of talent,” while there have been few favourable opinions elsewhere; Channel 4’s Neil Smith saying “their levels of sensitivity being pretty much signalled by an early cut between a passenger tumbling onto the tracks and Crook squeezing ketchup on his chips.” Cynical and heartless are just two words that spring to mind if that’s really the juxtaposition producers are looking to offer up as ‘comedy’.
But you have to ask two questions; why did LU originally agree to allow producers to use their facilities? Producers are suing LU for their ‘derogatory’ comments alluding to poor taste despite LU apparently receiving £200,000 in location and advertising fees. And secondly, who has been writing the positive comments appearing on film posters around London? Including those posters so thoughtfully placed, arching across platforms around the tube network.
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