Sexy Beast (UK)

I was very reluctant to watch this actually, as the recent spate of British gangster flicks have been mostly mediocre and occasionaly awful. However, I`m happy to report that this is one of the strongest offerings yet and is certainly in the same league as Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels (superior in many ways too)...

Ray Winstone is more or less the hero here, although his character has a murky past and a similarly tainted wife (former porn-star no less!). He brings the right amounts of likeability and believability to the role and you are definitely on his side when you`re supposed to be. So this movie focuses on the performances then? Absolutely! and you can only begin to imagine how superb Ben Kingsley`s performance is. He plays the former criminal associate hoping to recruit Winstone for "one last job". To call him psychotic wouldn`t be an overstatement and he drifts between personable wideboy and thoroughly un-hinged madman with consumate ease.

The direction is geared towards the performances of the actors and at times feels like a high quality stage-play. This is either a good or bad thing depending on your personal taste, if you want high octane thrills, then this isn`t the film for you. I really invested my emotions in the characters though and it`s a gripping drama if you allow it to be.

The disc is perfectly acceptable too, a nice clean anamorphic picture and solid audio performance. The soundtrack itself isn`t particularly inspiring (mostly dialogue), but the sub does get used to great effect in one particular scene and the big-beat score sounds beefy when it crops up. The extras are passable but not great, there`s a lot of repetition in the features and some interview clips are recycled too many times. There`s nothing to moan about really and it`s a good effort overall.

My only problems with the film are 1)..the title, why Sexy Beast? I`d be embarrassed to ask for this in a shop and it doesn`t bare any relation to the premise of the movie. 2)..The director occasionally gets carried away with symbolism and there are a couple of "weird" moments that are unnecessary and mis-placed. I ignored this myself and the intense story is strong enough to counter-balance these fleeting silly moments and the majority of the film is pitch-perfect.

Basically then, this is a well-written, well-executed production that aims high and hits more targets than it misses. If talky-drama isn`t your cup of tea, then maybe you shouldn`t bother. It`s definitely worth your time and effort though, because it`s brilliantly performed and surprisingly engrossing.

The first time I watched this movie I was disappointed that a great cast didn`t make this movie interesting. However, after a second viewing I saw the light and finally got it. This is a great film and character study. It also asks the big question about how fleeting happiness can be or not. Ray Winstone gives a superb outing but you have to look for the subtle nuances and things conveyed in his face and eyes. His is the quiet character whereas we then meet the Ben Kingsley portrayed psychotic wild man. He badgers, conjoles, insults and threatens Ray to do a heist job he doesn`t want to do and Ray holds his ground. Kingsley comes across as his worst nightmare until later we meet Ian McShane, the boss of this crew.

Ian McShane may even be a worse nightmare for Ray as Ian comes across as a hooded cobra close to his face about to strike and carrying a gun no less. Their scenes together have a subtle suggestion that Ray may expire at any moment by Ian`s whim while Ian smiles at him. Ray is as opposite as his frequent tough guy thug image as it can be in this one. He does possess an inner strength that sees him through the 2 madmen all the while keeping his wits about him and not venting his helplessness. I suggest a second viewing on this film to catch the subtleness and avoiding the loud and obnoxious bigger part of the film.

Lastly, I see this film as how we handle fear and most characters in the story have to deal with it. Even Ben Kingsley has his own fear although a very different type than the others. There is some great humor here too as Kingsley and McShane both play off their respective scenes with Ray. I laughed quite a bit seeing the interactions among them.

This goes in my favorites group as one I can watch and enjoy again. I have seen Ray Winstone in some films I didn`t like but this is certainly not one of them. The music background is fantastic and adds a lot to the film. The scenery scenes and sound are excellent just on my HDTV speakers alone so there are many good things going on concurrently here. I highly recommend it.

There`s an added narrative with Ben Kingsley and Jeremy Thomas you won`t want to miss on the making of the films and scene comments.