Legend by Name, Legend by Nature

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2015)

Legend, which was written and directed by Brian Helgeland, is the story of the Krays rise to power and ultimate fall during the 1960s. It stars Tom Hardy as both Ronnie and Reggie Kray in a remarkable double performance, although the film is told from the perspective of Reggie's young wife, Frances, who is played by Emily Browining.
What's quickly and capably established from the start of Legend is the world in which the Krays dominate, but Helgeland is careful to develop the characters and personalities of two brothers who are twins, but aren't very much alike. We see the suave and pleasant Reggie, who knows the police have him under surveillance, so he brings them cups of tea. Ronnie, who isn't shy about his sexual orientation, is more unhinged. He's a paranoid schizophrenic, but Reggie wants his brother out of a mental institute and by his side as he rises from being the owner of a pool hall to running clubs and soon the entirety of London's East End.
Hardy, who is a magnificent actor, does something very special with the kind of role that was once a novelty in requirement of wigs, stand-ins and characters with their backs to the camera. But here, thanks to some technical brilliance, but also superb direction and what Hardy brings to these characters, is a truly symbiotic relationship that exists fully in the frame. As Reggie, he's immaculate, charming and reserved, but certainly dangerous. But Ronnie, despite moments of clarity and amusing anecdotes, is snarling and loud, spitting as he's riled and hunched like a great bear in a suit. Through Frances, we can understand these characters and find a way into their world, which has shades of Goodfellas with the mingling in clubs and back-room dealings. It's slick, but violent and uncompromising, and doesn't court sympathy for the brothers, who do wrong and are punished. Frances, on the other hand, lacks better character development, although it's easy to join the dots, but when her own problems arise, they do so as a matter of requirement to the plot as opposed her being afforded the same arc as her husband and brother-in-law. Which is a small gripe when so much of this movie is a triumph. Thanks in no small part to Tom Hardy, who is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and fearless actors working today.