It's not a classic but ...

Rating: 6/10 (12 October 2015)

First some facts about the film (not these are not spoilers) Facts 1 : Tom Hardy's performances as Ronnie and Reggie Kray are amazing. His acting, coupled with clever effects meant that within minutes you completely forget that these two characters are played by the same man. My partner thought that both Tom Hardys were very handsome – so I am presuming this will give the film a couple extra stars for the ladies.
Fact 2: The film should have been advertised as The Reggie and Frances story. This film centres on Reggie and Frances' marriage and is told by Frances. However, it fails to grip you into this turn of events. Frances is not overly likable as a character and the film fails to show the thrills that must have made someone fall in love someone such a Reggie Kray and while it shows the lows it doesn't overly play them. Yet the majority of the two hours was spent developing/reviewing this love story, it had the potential to go further but didn't live up to it.
So what about the film – is it any good? It was shot well, it had a feel of an Instagram account to it, which gave a sense of ease and comfort to watching.
My main complaint is the structure and tempo of the film. The Kray's have so much background material. If I were the director I would have built a trilogy for this story, there's a good cast coupled with a rather British fascination of the Krays which could have been developed well over time. Brian Helgeland's focus on the Frances and Reggie story seems to have missed an opportunity. The bad bits weren't bad enough, the glory bits weren't glorifying enough and the black parts were beyond obvious. The Krays have become a Legend over time, I am not saying that they are people who should be admired but they have none the less gone down in our history, this could and should have been utilised better.
The focus on Frances means that the violent and dark parts of the East End in the 60s don't come across. The voice-over by Frances could have been brilliant at implementing this but it barely scratched the surface.
The disappointing thing is that this isn't a bad film, it is actually quite good. It isn't boring, but it gives you a sense that it is growing into something that basically never appears - a climax than never happens.
It's not a classic, it's too long yet too short at the same time but it is worth a watch.