Crime and comedy often go hand-in-hand due to the ridiculousness of a given situation. Watching two high-octane cars pull a massive safe through the streets of Rio? Hilarious. Betting as to whether Yen (Qin Shaobo) shorts it? Gold. Declaring that one should never go to England? One of the more memorable buttons in cinema. Balanced properly, crime and comedy not only provides solid entertainment, but the chance for pathos as well; especially with a game and capable cast. Released in theaters in September 2025 and then on home video in December, London Calling by director Allan Ungar (Bandit) seeks to join the long line of crime comedies with its tale of a wayward hitman whose self-made bad luck brings about a ridiculous amount of mayhem. Unfortunately, despite the strength of individual pieces, the whole is hardly worth the effort of the watch.
Josh Duhamel as Tommy Ward in the action comedy LONDON CALLING, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
After mistakenly killing the cousin of his boss’s wife, hitman Tommy Ward (Josh Duhamel) flees London for Los Angeles to avoid retribution from his boss, Freddy Darby (Aidan Gillen). A year later, Tommy is working for local crime boss Benson (Rick Hoffman) while trying to figure out a way to maintain contact with his young son back in London. Things go from bad to worse when, first, sentimentality ends up cluing Freddy to where Tommy is, and second, Benson assigns Tommy to teach his son, Julian (Jeremy Ray Taylor), how to be a killer by taking him on his next job. Between the looming threat of Freddy and trying to keep Julian alive, Tommy is going to need all of his wits (and a little extra luck) to survive the day.
The following home release review is based on a DVD retail copy provided by Quiver Distribution via Alliance Entertainment.
L-R: Josh Duhamel as Tommy Ward and Jeremy Ray Taylor as Julian in the action comedy LONDON CALLING, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
London Calling gives you exactly what you expect, for better and worse. The hijinks are blood-covered, the characters are either idiots or assholes, and the premise is about as deep as a kiddie pool. It’s also not particularly interested in being clever, using a great of low-hanging fruit for its joke setups. A surprise major adversary in the film is described as one of the best hitmen in the world who needs to be taken out because he found religion and went to the cops, except he’s also on medication for lucidity he refuses to take which results in a loss of reality recognition; oh, and it turns out he went to prison for interspecies erotica, but he used to get beaten as a kid, so it’s all ok? Things like this feel like screenwriters Omer Levin Menekse (Please Hold) and Quinn Wolfe (Pillow Talk) just wanted to pile humiliation upon humiliation rather than trust the comedy to come from the heightened situation that’s already in play. London Calling is filled with trash people whose choices and dialogue already indicate this, so going further in the name of comedy doesn’t always work. Julian is setup as a disappointment to Benson because Julian is 18 and enjoys LARPing, not crime, and that he’s kind and not hard. The subplot focused on building up Julian to be able to handle the bullies in his LARPing community through this adventure which leans into his inexperience for comedy, generating surprises as it turns out Julian has a naturally talented for it, works really well, especially when it walks the well-worn path of elder character as unwilling mentor. Ray Taylor (This Too Shall Pass) is charming and likeable as Julian, making the frequent disparagement by Benson something to commiserate over, resulting in true satisfaction when the expected confidence boost takes root. Conversely, the way the film leans into the low-hanging fruit of jackasses begins to grate. For example, the presentation of Tommy’s ex as a lower education gym teacher with a greasy comb-over as if the film agrees with Tommy’s worldview of the job or Bensen’s obnoxious Jewish characterization stereotyping as it implies a certain way to be cool, to be accepted, or to be respected. Even the climax of Julian’s story, which should be uplifting, is, through the eyes of Tommy, still ridiculed because of the performative violence versus real violence he expected. Rather than making Tommy the brunt of the joke, the setup and execution still falls on Julian as unserious, strangely making a mockery of the emotional through line that Tommy comes to via their experience together.
Aidan Gillen as Freddy Darby in the action comedy LONDON CALLING, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
The lone bonus feature on the DVD edition is found under the “Extra” menu with no official title. Rather, it’s three pre-packaged featurettes — “The Story,” “The Action,” and “The Comedy” — that run through a mix of on-set footage, final footage, and talking head interviews with members of the cast and crew. Each offers a tiny bit of insight and certainly help illustrate the fun the members of the cast were having while shooting, but they aren’t as in-depth as cinema fans would want. Appropriately, they’re about as in-depth for home viewers as the film itself. Pleasantly, however, the DVD on-disc presentation delights. Played through a 4K UHD player that upconverted the presentation with audio through a 5.1 surround setup, the image is crisp and clean, dialogue clear, and sound engaging. Is it as enveloping as a Blu-ray might be? No, but there’s no major complaint to be had, either.
L-R: Actor Rick Hoffman, director/co-writer Allan Ungar, and actor Josh Duhamel behind the scenes of the action comedy LONDON CALLING, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
If you’re in the market for sheer entertainment, London Calling is going to give you that in spades. There’re several shoot-outs and throw downs, each one finding new ways to escalate the action and narrative which lead to several surprises which is delightful given the established capability of the cast members to pull them off. It doesn’t matter that the film is primarily filled with trash people, they’re hitmen, crime bosses, and lackeys — no one is expecting puritans here. One just wishes that the jokes weren’t always so obvious, so low denominator-centered, and so intent on punching down. London’s calling, but maybe don’t pick up this time.
London Calling Special Features:
- Extra (8:11)
In theaters September 19th, 2025.
Available on DVD, VOD, and digital December 9th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Quiver Distribution London Calling webpage.
Final Score: 2 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Video, Reviews, streaming
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