plot : a young recruit gets plucked out of nowhere by the number one gangster in london and quickly becomes a staple by his side .
but this new guy is not like all the others , he 's got ambition , he 's got goals and he loves everything he sees about being the number one gangster .
violence , lots of swearing and betrayals ensue .
critique : a very good , serious - minded , unique british gangster flick
which misses the " great " mark by way of an annoying voice - over popping up throughout the film and a so - so ending .
here 's yet another cool crime movie that actually manages to bring something new into the mix .
okay , so it 's not entirely new , but
it 's definitely original when all put together as done here .
the thing i liked most about this movie was its authentic portrayal of the time period in which it was taking place .
it 's 1968 and these dudes are looking good !
yes , it 's all about the suits , fellas . . .
the italian shoes , the cufflinks , the ties and the birds ( that 's ladies , for those uninitiated ) hanging around you .
here are a bunch of horrible men , gangsters if you will , looking sharp , talking shit and busting heads all over the place .
but that 's not the basis of this movie .
the basis of this film comes in the relationship between the number one gangster in the group , the excellent david thewlis , and one of his cronies , paul bettany , also extremely good in this film , and how the power , sex appeal and coolness of one , affects the other .
you know how there are always these " hanger - on " gangster types who latch on to the godfathers , the leaders , the top dogs of every crime organization ?
well , most of the time , these dudes are screened beforehand and are loyal to only one person .
. .
that is , their boss .
so all the gangster number one needs to worry about
is his enemies on the other side of the fence .
but this film brings the betrayals , the messed up loyalties , the honor codes among bad guys into play within the same group and presents it in quite the stylistic package .
of course , director paul mcguigan is n't trying to be guy ritchie here , and does n't over - stylize his presentation , jazz it all up with a hip soundtrack or add any humor to the mix .
nope , he goes straight for the serious stuff and develops at least two particular scenes which are still embedded in my mind as i type this .
the first is a confrontation sequence between bettany and a man from which he 's attempting to sway some information
and it is downright nasty !
( " look into my eyes ! " ) in fact , the last time that i 've seen a guy so scared in a movie was john turturro in that forest scene from the coen brothers ' miller 's crossing .
scary shite .
but there 's an ever better scene
than that in this film .
this one features bettany , once again , slowly torturing , hacking and beating the living piss out of a rival gangster ( from that man 's point - of - view ) , but not before turning on a quaint little tune in the background and removing all of his own expensive clothes , one by one ( that 's right
, he " does " the guy in his underwear ) .
that scene is also in tune with some of the obvious phallic and homoerotic undertones present throughout this film , especially in the relationship between bettany and his boss ( why does he get so upset when he falls in love with that woman ? ) .
but the flick 's not perfect .
in fact , i did n't mind malcolm mcdowell 's voice - over narration at first , but as the film grew into a major flashback ( most of the film is presented as such ) , he came in every now and then , and rarely added anything of interest to the plot .
all he seemed to do was swear and call people the c - word umpteen times , and even described one scene as it was happening ( " . . .
so i opened the door , then went up the lift , etc . . . .
"
-it 's like ,
yeah ,
i know that already , i could see it on the screen ! !
overdone . ) .
i also did n't quite " buy " the ending of the movie , which despite being original , seemed a little unbelievable , especially when you consider that it 's supposed to be taking place 30 years later , and folks still seem to be holding grudges , still in love , still living in the same apartments ? ? ! ?
i mean , c'mon . . .
it 's 30 years , man ! !
i do n't know , somehow it did n't work all that well for me .
but one of my favorite genres has always been the crime movies , and this one is a decent addition to the lot .
forget the lame title and malcolm mcdowell 's narration of the obvious plot points , and concentrate on the film 's stronger attributes such as its style , the exquisite atmosphere of the time period , its original look at the gangster dynamic within the same group , its memorable sequences and the solid performances from its two main leads , bettany and thewlis .
incidentally , unlike a few of the gangster flicks that i mention below , this one is in no way a parody or homage to this genre of films . . .
it 's the real deal !
note : this film is packed with strong accents all around , which makes it hard to make out some of the words from time to time .
it 's also quite violent and i do n't remember any film that used the c - word as much as this one , so leave the kids at home for this one . . .
; ) where 's joblo coming from ? american psycho ( 10/10 ) - a clockwork orange ( 9/10 ) - donnie brasco ( 8/10 ) - fight club ( 10/10 ) - get
carter ( 7/10 ) - godfather ( 10/10 )
- godfather ii
( 10/10 ) - goodfellas ( 10/10 ) - lock , stock & two smoking barrels ( 8/10 )
- pulp fiction ( 8/10 ) - reservoir dogs ( 9/10 )
Output: P