"Not Guy Richie's best film - oh wait, Guy Richie DIDN'T make this?"
This Dark Brit gangster comedy tries to borrow a lot from films like "Snatch" both thematically and stylistically, with a odd little twist of "Donnie Darko" thrown in (think man-sized menacing metaphorical rabbits).But while Kingsley's role as the head-shaven psycho is fairly intense, Sexy Beast seems to be lacking the kind of quirky characters and sharp, clever dialogue needed to make this kind of film work. And unless you're really up on your Brit and cockney accents, you might want to turn the subtitles on or be prepared to hit the back-scan button frequently.
Although Kingsley got the top billing for this film, the story revolves around retired thief Gal (Ray Winstone) who is living a seemingly charmed life in a Spanish villa with his hot ex-pornstar wife DeeDee (Amanda Redman, who has some of the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen on an actress). Out of the blue, volatile gangster Don Logan (Kingsley) shows up from the UK to convince Gal to head back for "one last job". What follows is a tug of war between the reticent Gal and the intimidating Don.
The supporting cast does a competent job, and while Kingsley certainly brings the right touch of menace and instability to his character, it isn't exactly the breakout role that everyone has raved about. We already know that Kingsley is a good actor capable of some great work. Playing a psychotic thug of limited intelligence isn't exactly a Ghandi-caliber Oscar nomination follow-up. Meanwhile, first-time director Jonathan Glazer tries so hard to be Guy Richie, without looking like he's trying to be.Not to say that this is a bad film. There are some laughs, as well as some intense moments. But the film's short running time is a good indicator that there wasn't really anywhere for this to go, and most of the tacked on "heist" aspect of the film seems like a stretch to give it a reasonable running time.
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