Sexy Beast

Gal is a safecracker now living in retirement in the Costa del Crime in Spain. Safe from the law and living off the money he managed to put to one side when working. When London gangster Don Logan calls a friend to offer Gal a job, Gal intends to refuse it but is faced with telling him face to face when Logan arrives from London offering Gal the job in two days time. As the unpredictably brutal Logan pressures Gal more and more he is faced with the possibility of having to return to England for a job.

I watched this several years after it came out in the cinema so I was sheltered from much of the hype. I'm not a huge fan of all these new British gangster movies that are about of late as many seem to be in awe of `Lock, Stock' and just are happy to copy rather than innovate. Sexy Beast really gripped me for the most part because it doesn't try to copy like so many others. Instead it is very stagey rather than slick and energetic. The plot weakness is that it has nowhere to really go. The `job' itself is pretty pointless and the key moment that is meant to have us on the edge of our seats doesn't really work.

However what does work is the majority of the film where Gal and Logan standoff to each other. This is very dialogue driven but really works mostly because of Kingsley who rightly got an Oscar nod for this. He drives the film with his brutal and unpredictable character. Winstone is good but is almost a support character when viewed beside Kingsley. The support cast are OK with Fox and McShane being interesting but underused castings.

The fantasy scenes are imaginative and the film is very stylishly done without copying off anyone else. It falls a little flat towards the end and the `job' is not as exciting as one would have hoped – basically once Logan `convinces' Gal to take the job the pressure cooker excitement is gone never to be replaced. Up to that point this is quite a wonderful little find.

Let's assume you are a casting director, there are two roles: one is Gal, a retired safe-cracker enjoying the life of Riley in a beatific villa in Spain with his wife and friends; and the other is his former criminal associate Don Logan, a browbeating, invective-pelting psychopath who wills to recruit him to a new job and will not take no for answer. Then you are given two candidates: Mr. Gandhi himself, Sir. Ben Kingsley and a bovver heavy Ray Winstone, the choice is rather self- evident.

However, that is not the case for UK scenester Jonathan Glazer when he begins to work on his feature film debut SEXY BEAST, who does the obverse, fingers Mr. Winstone for the hapless Gal and Mr. Kingsley for the rivetingly menacing Don Logan, a delectable volte-face rewardingly earns him an Oscar nomination, meantime, Winstone also magnificently brings about an incarnation very different from his usual image, a rough diamond type, graced by the lovey-dovey intimacy between him and his wife DeeDee Dove (Redman), an erstwhile porn star.

It is a taut iteration in the UK gangster genre, the story is nothing too sparkling, it is Glazer's swift and impressive execution takes the full credit. The harbinger arrives in its opening, a boulder falls right in into the swimming pool of Gal's villa (which betrays a sloppy CGI burnished effort), while he is sunbathing under the blistering heat, this portends an impending threat which will disrupt the placidity and imperil those who cannot get away, Don Logan is coming to visit, and he will not be in a pleasant mood if he knows that Gal determines to decline his very generous offer. So sparks fly, but not without a droll war of (swearing) words and things will inevitably get physical, Kingsley's intimidating presence deviously pays off the looming dread simply elicited by the mention of his name, and after an ironical turn of events, he does manage to press-gang Gal into partaking in the action however reluctant he is, to break into a bank vault via water pressure, The suspense isn't swelling during the action, but after, when the head of the criminals, Teddy Bass (McShane, another great villain, less showy but infallibly lethal), a character turns out to be far more ruthless than Don Logan, bluffly tells Gal that "he knows what they did in Spain" and promises he will come to visit in the due future. Well, why there isn't a sequel to this?

Parlaying his reputation as an eclectic music video director into this breakout debut, Glazer has concocted up a stunning-looking fare seeped with robust characterization, pulsating rhythm of montage, scintillating chromatic disposition and optimal pop taste, ultimately transmogrified it into a beguiling conglomerate of romanticism, perversity absurdity and bloody gallows humor like an arch cautionary tale: there is no easy way of going straight, so think twice before you get your feet wet!

Ben Kingsley's portrayal of gangster Don Logan is destined to go down as one of the most memorable mobsters in filmdom; up there with the best from Robinson, Bogart, Cagney, Raft, deNiro, Pacino et al. Kingsley's all that good and more. And the other actors, in their portrayals of fellow gangsters and their lovers, are also excellent. The story is simple. Gal (Ray Winstone) is a retired English gangster living a life of leisure at his Spanish villa. Then one day his idyll is shattered by a visit from Don Logan, an old protégé, and man to be feared. Logan's intent is to lure Gal out of retirement for 'one last job'. Gal wants nothing to do with it, and the first half of the movie is a battle of wits between the two men. The second half of the film deals with the heist and its aftermath. The crime is downplayed in the movie which is primarily a psychological exploration of these gangsters; their personal demons, and the relationships amongst themselves. They are indeed scary people, no sympathetic characters here.

This is one of the best movies of 2000, and is highly recommended. I don't understand how IMDb reviewers can rate this movie so low. In my book it definitely rates an "A".

In `Sexy Beast,' Ben Kingsley delivers a bone-chilling performance as the man everyone loves to hate, a role for which he earned not only universal critical acclaim but a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination as well. Don Logan is so evil that even his fellow mobster buddies fear and hate him. From our very first glimpse of him high-strutting his way through an airport terminal, Kingsley hits just the right note for his character. Cleverly, writers Louis Mellis and David Scinto have paved the way for this entrance by introducing Logan ahead of time in a series of conversations in which just the mere mention of his name sets off portentous reverberations amongst the people discussing him.

Chief among those people is the film's protagonist, Gal, Logan's `retired' ex-partner in crime, who wants nothing more than to be allowed to enjoy life undisturbed in his seaside Spanish villa with his swimming pool and the wife he loves so dearly. But Gal soon discovers that a person cannot escape his past forever, when Logan suddenly shows up at his doorstep demanding that Gal join his own personally hand-picked gang of seasoned criminals whom Logan has brought together to pull off a major heist back in Merry Olde England. Gal would like nothing better than to send Logan home packing empty handed, but he also knows that defying Logan can be the fastest route to an early demise. It is this atmosphere of fear and dread that director Jonathon Glazer uses to make `Sexy Beast' such an engrossing and off beat little crime drama.

In fact it is the THREAT of violence, far more than the violence itself, which distinguishes this tale. Without the use of weapons of any kind, Logan is able to cow and terrorize a roomful of reasonably fearless adults simply by his steely-eyed demeanor and the unpredictable nature of his temperament. Seemingly controlled and rational one moment, he can suddenly erupt into a volcano of exploding anger the next. One of the most chilling moments in the film occurs aboard a departing airplane in which Logan refuses to douse his cigarette, thereby precipitating a confrontation with the flight crew. Logan has that quality that distinguishes all great villains: he throws us back on our heels by his refusal to conform to the social amenities that the rest of us simply take for granted and which put us at a decided disadvantage when faced with the evil characters of the world who know no rules and flagrantly disregard the ones we follow. He reminds us of how weak and vulnerable the rest of us really are.

Logan, for all the intensity generated by his character, is not, however, the focal point of the film. Gal, brilliantly played by Ray Winstone, who provides a fascinating counterpoint to Logan's no-holds-barred villainy, occupies that position. Despite his criminal background, Gal wins us over by his openhearted frankness, his sincere devotion to his wife, friends and neighbors, and his obvious desire to lead a straight life from hereon out. Winstone underplays his scenes superbly, yet he never allows himself to be acted off the screen by the fiery Kingsley. (One should mention that the heavy cockney accents of the characters make what they are saying a bit incomprehensible at times).

As is not uncommon in gangster movies these days, Glazer manages to inject an element of black humor into the proceedings. The comedy often takes the form of twisted surrealism, such as when a giant boulder rolls down a nearby hillside and lands plop in Gal's beloved pool, barely missing taking Gal to the bottom with it. The filmmakers also have an effective way of heightening the tension through indirection, particularly in the early scenes which prime us to dread Logan's entrance as much as the characters who don't want to see him – and we haven't even met him yet. This technique of telegraphing information ahead of time contributes immensely to heightening the suspenseful quality of the film.

`Sexy Beast' provides superb performances, a nasty sense of humor and a fascinating glimpse into the dark side of human nature.

This is one fascinating dark little film. Supported by fierce cinematography, black humour, chilling characters and strong language, 'Sexy Beast' works on many levels. It can be viewed as a conversational film, a study of characters and a psychological thriller. The writing is brilliant as some of the dialogues induce both humour and chill. The screenplay is pretty tight, leaving no place for loose ends or irrelevant subplots. Glazer's direction is wonderful as he keeps the viewer engaged throughout the entire 90 minutes and effectively infuses wicked humour and suspense. The characters are so interesting, while we hate Logan, we sympathize with his counterfeit Gal who is a retired gangster trying to live a straight life with his family and loyal friends. Logan desperately wants him to do a job but Gal bravely yet hesitantly turns it down. Logan won't give up and even he notices that everybody hates him (which is beginning to make him feel powerless). The cast deliver solid performances. Ray Winstone is amazing. He easily conveys Gal's complexity and dilemma with pathos. Ben Kingsley as the hatefully irritating and intimidating Logan is superb. Ian McShane is scary. Amanda Redman is electrifying in a smaller role. 'Sexy Beast' is one slick wicked little film. Not a movie for everyone, but worth watching for those who enjoy black humour and dark cinema.