Hyena

A compelling turn from Peter Ferdinando is reason enough to recommend this moody, coked-up British crime thriller. Ferdinando stars as Detective Michael Logan, a corrupt copper who leads a special task force that targets London's seediest drug traffickers. Problems arise for Michael when one of his criminal associates is butchered by an Albanian gang, while matters are complicated by the assigning of an embittered former colleague (Stephen Graham) to the case. The story that ensues is familiar and derivative, and there are a handful of graphic scenes that will prove too unpleasant for some viewers. But writer/director Gerard Johnson offers a few stylish sequences - the opening night-club raid is utterly hypnotic - and the production benefits from a pulsing electronic score. That said, the picture's main asset is Ferdinando, who delivers a strong lead performance as the strung-out narc whose world is crumbling around him.