Rating: 
Summary: Not your everyday heist flick
Review: This the movie that earned Ben Kingsley a best supporting actor nomination. He played Gandhi but you'd never believe it after seeing him in this part as a psychotic Cockney crook. He is so intense and scary -- really spooky! It's an English film about a couple of retired crooks and their wives who are enjoying a leisurely life in Spain. Then they get a call from London from one of their former cohorts, who intends to make one of them an 'offer he can't refuse' to go back to London and take part in a job. The former crook REALLY, REALLY doesn't want to come out of retirement and there is the crux of the matter. The four ex-patriots are really likeable and it's hard not to envy their idyllic lifestyle, so it makes you feel the intensity of their desire NOT to stir things up and get caught up in the old, bad times. It was really a good movie, very different, with some unexpectedly likeable characters and some actors that have always been likeable in previous roles who definitely are NOT likeable in this one. It isn't so much violent as very tense with a slowly building anticipation of violence to come that makes you sit on the edge of your seat. The cinematography is great and this is that rare thing -- an original movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Sweet Love Story
Review: When you get past the kinetic violence, language, and mildly disturbing sexual imagery, the center of this film is the big, lumbering, sweet character of Gal (Ray Winstone) and his love for his wife and the life they have in southern Spain. Yes, Ben Kingsley is typically great (although I am a bit bewildered by the critic's shock at his ability to portray such an evil character, as if he's played nothing but saints all his career. Did anyone see Bugsy?) But the true anchors of this film are the wonderful performance of Ray Winstone, the script that keeps things simple and focused, and the strong supporting characters (particularly Ian McShane as the slimily charming Teddy Bass). Not a date movie, but definitely a love story.
Rating:
Summary: Kingsley Makes it
Review: First off, people have stated plot holes and of course if they paid attention and thought for themselves instead of wanting it layed out for them they'd see there are none:-Don goes to recruit Gal because Gal is in the same area as Jackie, a girl that Don has the hots for, NOT because he actually wants to recruit Gal. There are better thieves than Gal but Don wants Gal because it gives him an excuse to see Jackie (I thought that was painfully obvious) -Gal has no choice but to do the heist because of what he has done (trying not giving away anything here). If he doesn't do it then he figures he will be in A LOT of trouble with the top men The film itself is not perfect. It's plot is rather simplistic but it is Kingsley's performance that makes this movie escalate beyond that (and yes Winstone is good as well). Kingsley is absolutely frightening and genuinely psychotic in the film. He turns a film that would have probably been just "alright" to something gripping.
Rating: 
Summary: nots as good as locked cocked...or The Limey
Review: Ray winston plays a retired thief living a nice life under the son.That is untill Ray Logan(Ben Kingsley)pays a visit to pursway winston into one last job.Winstons stands to decline his offer and off we go with some good performances between characters with neither of the two willing to give into another.The accent of the characters made it sometimes hard to understand.The music stands out well and the picture quality is good.Overall its an o.k. film not quite as good as Locked cocked...or The LIMEY
Rating:
Summary: A great gangster film.
Review: When I first heard about this film in a local newspaper I thought to my self, 'How could Ben Kingsley be scary?' Although a good question when I saw the movie I saw that he was one of the most frightening charactors I have ever seen. Kingsley plays Don Logan a phycotic gangster who goes to Spain to pull Ray Winstone (a retiered gangster) out for one last job. He dose not want to but finds that saying no to Logan is even more scary that a rock crashing into you'r swimming pool (see the movie and you will understand). The acting is first rate and Kingsley recieved a much deserved Oscar nomination for his role. The movie sags at the end slightly but it can be forgivin.
Rating: 
Summary: Sexy Beast
Review: Gandhi as a hitman. An andidote for those out there sick of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels type mockney, just lads having fun, gangster movies. A British crime flick to rank alongside Get Carter and A Long Good Friday sees Gel (Winstone) ensconced on the Costa del Crime enjoying an early retirement with his ex-porn star wife. Unfortunately this idyllic set up is about to be ended by a visit from psychotic Don Logan who is setting up a team for a robbery and won't take Gel's refusal as an answer. There are some seriously surreal moments in this little gem of a movie which, in the end is as much a love story as a gangster flick.
Rating:
Summary: Sturdy gangster film with a cockney twist
Review: SEXY BEAST is a British caper film. It surrounds a professional thief who is brought of retirement against his will for one last big heist. Gal (Ray Winstone) has his time planned out sitting by the pool relaxing. That's until hardnosed Don Logan, marvelously played by Ben Kingsley (GANDHI) will not take 'no' for an answer. Will the ambitious heist work or is it curtains all around... SEXY BEAST is a quirky film from the setting to its screenplay. How many films use a huge boulder rolling into the hero's swimming pool as a plot device or occasional dream appearances by a half man- half rabbit, sewer dweller. This is a nice film that will definitely benefit from a DVD appearance with a subtitle option. The Cockney accent requires close listening to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Darkly funny British crime thriller, great performances
Review: 'Sexy Beast' shares the same plot premise as David Mamet's "Heist", also released in 2001 - a retired thief is lured into doing one more job. This British film, though, is a different animal. Both dark and comic, director Jonathan Glazer's first movie is highly energetic and has both style and substance. Gal [Ray Winstone], along with his ex-porn star wife, Deedee [Amanda Redman] has happily retired to a villa above the glorious Costa del Sol in Spain. Back in dreary old London, gangster Teddy [Ian McShane] needs his services for a bizarre robbery plan sends Don Logan [Ben Kingsley] to convince him. Completely mad and with all the warmth of a pit bull, he's a hard man to refuse. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Gal plays along. Or does he? Kingsley is brilliant, and it's hard to believe this is the same gentle guy who played Gandhi. He's deservedly been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Highly recommended for fans of film noir.
Rating: 
Summary: Stupid Beast
Review: It's true, Ben Kingsley is good in this movie, but that doesn't excuse the pointlessness of the rest of the film. This is the movie: Ben throws a tantrum for an hour, there is a boring heist, people die arbitrarily, nobody cares, the end. This movie has a high "whatever" factor. For example, Ben flies out to the middle of nowhere to recruit some clown for a job. Considering the amount of effort involved, one would assume the guy is "the best." But no, during the heist we see him along with a whole bunch of other clowns doing something that monkeys could do. Whatever. Or, get this: the same guy spends an hour telling Ben he would not do the job and then, five minutes later he's doing it. Whatever. And finally: these clowns break into a "super-secure" fortress (very easily) in order to steal a bunch of stuff one could find at a strip-mall. What...well, you get the point. This movie is full of all sorts of ill-motivated plot twists and overreacting. Skip it. Ben Kingsley wetting his pants for an hour is no reason to buy this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Kingsley is great, but don't forget about Winstone
Review: I predicted that "Sexy Beast" would consist of 90 minutes of Ben Kingsley chasing Ray Winstone around a Spanish villa, yelling David Mametisms into his ear until one or the other of them ended up dead. I was partially right (I won't give away which part I was right about, except that the Mamet allusion above was complimentary rather than critical). Thankfully, that's not all this film has to offer. A premise that could have ended up like the engrossing by messy "Hurly Burly" (i.e., a masturbatory film loaded with drunken ramblings and philosophical discussions on the endless minutiae of life) turned into something so much more. That is, a finely tuned character study and a neat little suspense piece. Ben Kingsley justifiably gets most of the credit and press; it's a huge performance. His Don Logan is a terribly showy part. He's menacing, coiled like a cobra read to strike, busting veins from his forehead. He's stark and rigid and frightening. He's charismatic and literate. He's childish. He's supremely confident. But in terms of actual screen time, the role is really nothing more than a supporting part. It's the tune you'll be humming as you leave the theatre, but there's much more to the musical score. Ray Winstone as Gal is the one who puts the movie on his back and carries it from start to finish. He is on screen in nearly every scene, and does a wonderfully understated job. He's tanned to a crisp, paunchy, and nearly bleached blonde from his time in the Spanish nirvana. But his anxiety is palpable when Don Logan shows up. Winstone slouches, and shifts uneasily, generally showing his discomfort, while allowing the audience to feel it as well. He does this remarkable thing with his eyes, where one squints tightly to show what used to be his power in his criminal days, while the other opens wide to show his fear. It is a remarkable feat. Winstone does yeomen's work shoring up the film's backbone. It is a less showy role than the one Kingsley has, but ten times as important in terms of the overall film. The other actors aren't given much to do, except for Ian McShane as an intimidating bossman with a penchant for dressing in black. Cavan Kendall as Aitch, a guest at Gal's villa, is so unintelligible with his thick Cockney accent that I can't decide if he was an interesting character or just a verbose blowhard. He nearly ruined the movie's first half, as I had to focus all my energy to try and understand what he was saying. Gal's wife Deedee was pleasant enough to look at, but she is really only given one scene in which to strut her stuff, and even then only briefly. And her pregnant personal history is touched on lightly but left unexplored. Director Jonathan Glazer has a fine touch, employing showy style only when needed to bring the audience in to the anxiety that Gal is feeling. He does a fine job showing the Spanish locations as idyllic, lingering briefly but significantly over his vast army of visual motifs, and juxtaposing images from Gal's dreamlife with his waking life. And what a dream life it is. Needless to say, I am still trying to sort out the relevance of the anthropomorphized hare that stalks Gal's subconscious with menacing glee. Normally I'm not a fan of dream sequences in movies (there should be enough in the characters' waking lives to keep me interested) but these were so oddly appealing and perplexing that I'm glad Glazer gave them a go. And they allowed for one of the oddest endings I've seen at the movies in a while. "Sexy Beast" doesn't try to say too much, which is probably why it works so well. Don't go in expecting your standard caper picture. Rather, prepare to be surprised. The film does well in confounding expectations, from the ridiculous opening twist to a story that ends up taking you places that you didn't expect to visit. Well worth the trip, I'd say.
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