Sean Harris, Sean Bean, Danny Dyer and Rupert Friend in Outlaw, a Magnet Releasing release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

Gene Dekker (Danny Dyer) pulls up to a stoplight, snuggling with his bride-to-be. A car full of yobs pulls up next to him; a few sharp words are exchanged and the violent youths pull Dekker from the car and pound the bejesus out of him.

As we learn in "Outlaw," the streets in London apparently are pretty rough.

There's a drug-and-crime lord who has threatened Cedric Munroe's (Lennie James) unborn child. The boss makes good on his threat, and kills Munroe's pregnant wife.

Sandy (Rupert Friend) has a pretty face marred by scars. He's so traumatized by a beating that he refuses to go back to school.

There is a unifying force: Hotel security chief Simon Hillier (Sean Harris -- who played Ian Curtis in "24 Hour Party People") has found Danny Bryant (Sean Bean), a soldier who has returned to London to find his wife shacked up with another dude. Burn! Bryant has loads of guns and is willing -- nay spoiling -- to fight the badness he sees festering in London.

The men unite to form a vigilante group. Walter Lewis (Bob Hoskins), a police officer who has been assigned to guard Munroe, learns about the group and extends the protective arm of the law.

"Outlaw" has lots of plot holes. It has loads of shaky camera work that, on a bigger screen, would likely make viewers ill. The concept is rather naive, and really, so are the characters. Five guys with very little training taking on all of yob/chav culture and a scary drug dealer?

And what of these characters? If the movie slowed down its herky-jerky pace, some of them might be relatable and enjoyable. As Munroe, James' big sad eyes show the pain of losing a wife. But either a bad script or over-zealous editing have ripped the emotional impact of these events away, making this an anemic "Fight Club."

Hillier, with his jury-rigged hotel surveillance system, could be most enjoyable -- for fans of the British version of "The Office," he's like a slightly more pathological Gareth.

True gossip hounds will recognize Friend as Keira Knightley's current boyfriend. His character, like his (and his girlfriend's) physique is whisper-thin -- to the point of not being there at all.

But there are good points to "Outlaw." The film has a cohesive style and an overcast tone that lends to the gloom of the movie itself. With only 1 hour, 40 minutes running time, it's fast-paced enough to keep audiences' attention.