Tom Hardy pulls it off – twice and simultaneously

Rating: 6/10 (26 October 2015)

I was in primary school in the 1960s when the subject of this real event based film occurred, half a world away in London. And I don't recall the Kray twins from news footage that must have reached our southern shores then either. But this longish gangsters, cops and their associates film provides a convincing view into their world of manipulation and extortion.
Tom Hardy, aided by really smooth technology, appears as both identical twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray, simultaneously in many scenes, and is the glue that holds this captivating film together. I feel for Emily Browning's Frances Shea, who falls for Ronnie but pays the price many times over for her decision. The psychological dimensions of both twins were effectively acknowledged, and contributed to an empathetic understanding of their characters.
I'm not sure that the rest of the cast quite reached the same level as the two key leads. But it's a well made film that held my attention for a bit over two hours. The east end London looked spot on to me, aided by Humber and Prefect cars from that time, contrasted with big American cars of the same era emphasising the flashiness of the Kray protagonists. The blood and gore flows, but the portrayal of this aspect of the film is probably a substantially toned down view of the reality of the time.