Dodgy scams, casual violence and Danny Dyer calling people 'Muppets', Dead Man Running has all the ingredients of your average Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels knock off.

Which is exactly what it is. And despite one inspired story strand - involving Brenda Blethyn of all people - there's not much to distinguish it from similar sub-Guy Ritchie fare.

Recession-hit loan shark Mr Thigo (50 Cent) decides to call in all his outstanding debts, starting with the hundred large owed to him by reformed con Nick Kane (Hassan).

With his travel agency on the skids, Kane comes up short so Thigo sends local psycho Johnny Sands (Phil Davis) to hold his mum (Blethyn) at gunpoint until the money is returned.

Given 24 hours to come up with the cash or see his mum get shotgunned, Kane recruits best mate and business partner Bing (Dyer) to help him put together the lolly.

Embarking on an underworld odyssey that will see them get involved in bare-knuckle boxing, robberies, assassinations and illegal raves, the dynamic duo are in for the longest night of their lives as they struggle to round up the readies.

Although the plot is as tired as the expletive-laden cockney patter, Dead Men Running is surprisingly entertaining. For the most part.

Hassan and Dyer - who previously teamed up for Nick Love's crime flick The Business - make a decent double act and while the script often scrapes the bottom of the dialogue barrel, De Rakoff (The Calcium Kid) keeps the tone zingy and upbeat.

Unfortunately, it's never quite as amusing as it would like to be and the second half descends into muddled implausibility, leading to a tepid conclusion that makes very little sense.

Produced by Hassan and footballing chums Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, de Rakoff's knock-off is at least partially saved from mediocrity by Blethyn and Davis, the two seasoned actors wringing priceless comedy from their brief scenes together.

It's a shame the same can't be said for 50 Cent, whose rigor mortis delivery is so stiff and lifeless that Dead Man Acting might have been a more appropriate title for the film.  

Neither a total shambles or a triumph, it should appeal to fans of the cockney crime genre. Anyone else may find it a right pain in the Khyber.

Chris Prince