The Herald (Glasgow), January 20, 2000
If you want to watch several careers going down the pan, try Rancid Aluminium,
an incomprehensible British thriller about a dim businessman, Rhys Ifans, his corrupt accountant best
friend, Joseph Fiennes, and their dealings with the Russian Mafia, Tara Fitzgerald, Steven Berkoff, and Keith
Allen. All concerned should fire their agents forthwith. It makes Mad Cows or Guest House Paradiso almost
palatable.
Ifans and Fiennes starred in two of last year's biggest hits. Nobody is going to turn Ifans into a romantic
lead, which is what he tries to be here, so he suffers less, but Fiennes is a heart -throb in the making and need his
head looked at for taking the role.
The best advice I can give is to
walk on by.
By William Russell
The language is foul, the playing atrocious, the plot makes no sense, and it looks cheap and nasty.
It is, of course, the actor in him. A chance to play the villain and stretch
oneself.
As for Ms Fitzgerald as a Russian vamp, she is lovely but sexless, which is not what a vamp should be.