The Long Good Friday was and still is a great piece of British Cinema. After watching the film after a good many years it still holds the power to shock, amuse and thrill.
Bob Hoskins pulled off a performance comparable to James Cagney's tour de force in 'White Heat' as the tough London gangster whose empire starts to tumble, as he's trying to seal a massive development deal with the aid of the US Mafia in London's Docklands.
Helen Mirren gives an impressive performance as Hoskin's love interest, who basically calls the shots in Hoskin's organisation almost as much as he does. Her cool, tough performance putting her in good stead for the 'Prime Suspect' mini series which followed in the early nineties in the UK, where she played Lynda Le Plante's tough female detective Jane Tennyson.
The usual seventies film actors who play crooks turn up in this film, as do some fine character actors, including Dave King who plays a bent copper on Hoskin's pay roll and Bryan Marshall as the crooked councillor. One of the most memorable of the support cast is Derek Thompson, who would later go on to play Charlie Fairhead in BBC's long running 'Casualty' drama, who takes the 'Introducing' credit.
Also, look out for the actor who played 'Denzel' in Only fools and Horses, and a mute role for Pierce Brosnan before he went to the States to play Remington Steele.
A fine film, thats quick in pace, and excellently directed by John McKenzie, who will probably be always most remembered for this film.
