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Directed by: Jonathan Glazer Starring: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman, James Fox Sadly neglected gem of a film from the good old days (2000) when Film4 where still turning out quality flicks on a weekly basis. Ray Winstone is a retired Cockney thief, `Gal', living the life all proletarian villains dream of on the Costa del Crime with an ex-porn star wife and a swimming pool. All is swell until a psychotically unhinged Donnie (Ben Kingsley) turns up wanting to recruit him for a major, highly inventive heist. To begin with, Gal tries to turn down the offer without getting killed by Donnie. However, Donnie's deranged and paranoid reactions to being spurned escalate the situation to the point where saying no might not be a viable option ... Ben Kingsley's performance was nominated for an Oscar and he makes Donnie a truly intimidating character. This is just as well as, were he not such a repulsive and scary baddie, I'd never have found it in me to side with Winstone's bad-boy-done-good expat. Pretty good soundtrack too. I picked this up for £2.99 on VHS the other day, Ebay have it on DVD for about the same. If you've not yet seen it then deprive yourself no longer. RATING: 4.5 PROS: Outstanding performances. Stylishly directed with some touches of flair. Good story. CONS: Takes half the film to warm to a Costa del Crime expat protagonist. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203119/
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Jun 13, 2004 16:47
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 22:40 |
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One of the better British gangster films of recent years. Way better than Guy Ritchie's crap. edit - I love the tagline on imdb "Sometimes It's Hard To Say No."
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Jun 13, 2004 17:34
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Hooked right from Ray Winstone's opening monologue backed with the Stranglers Peaches. I really like the sort of sub-genre of small cast, character-driven caper movies. Way of the Gun, Circus, etc. And this is about the best of them. There are no 'good guys' in this, just various shades of villain. Every one of them has a backstory. Every one of them has baggage. And Ben Kingsley makes the film. So many great quotes. Almost every line he utters. "I'm sweating like a c***" "You're going to have to turn this opportunity yes" and the classic e/n-type gripe: "During what we was doing, she tried to stick her finger up my bum. I almost hit the roof, you can imagine. What do you make of that, Gal, what do you make of a woman who'd want to do that?" 4.5 Great writing, great performances. The commentary track with Ben Kingsley is pretty good too.
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Jun 13, 2004 19:24
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I remember laughing a lot when it came out on video a few years ago because of the title, but I didn't even think to watch it until a friend of mine made me a couple of months ago, which is a shame because I really liked it. Yeah, it took a while to actually warm up to the main character, but Kingsly was so great that it didn't even matter. His character was just so insane and hilarious that it's near-impossible not to like at least the scenes that he's in. Kingsly is one hell of an actor to go from Gandhi to this. I couldn't help but think "gently caress, this is the same guy who played loving Gandhi?!" during some of the crazier parts of the movie. Although some of it does drag a bit, it's still well-worth checking out for Kingsly's great job. 4 stars.
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Jun 14, 2004 09:09
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quote:danthemitchell came out of the closet to say:
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Jun 14, 2004 13:46
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 22:40 |
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I enjoyed this film. As with most of these small productions they really get there fame from word of mouth.
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Jun 23, 2004 10:00
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