Rating: Summary: So this is a 'Spanish villa', is it? Review: "Sexy Beast" is assured a place alongside classic British gangster films like "The Long Good Friday" and (the original) "Get Carter". The opening credits alone are worth the ticket- "retired" thug Gal (Ray Winstone) lounges in sated lethargy at his sun-drenched Mediterranean villa to the strains of the Stranglers' vitriolic summer anthem "Peaches", until his reverie is interrupted by a rather rude boulder smashing into his swimming pool. Talk about "foreshadowing". Enter the "Beast"- Gal's former associate Don Logan (Ben Kingsley). Imagine the most repellent "ex co-worker from hell" that you would NEVER want to see again as long as you live...he's BAAAAck! Kingsley's much-vaunted sociopathic portrayal earns all the kudos, although I feel he dropped the "Gandhi" albatross a long time ago...from "Turtle Diary" onward. Very few reviews have noted scene stealer Ian MacShane ("Teddy") who can project murderous menace with a flashing smile and cold stare worthy of Richard Widmark. James Fox also deserves mention- oozing decadent sleaze in a small but memorable role. Destined for cultdom.
Rating: Summary: Prepare yourself for a VERY British Flick Review: I must agree with someone earlier review there were times when I could not understand a single thing that was being said, so I winged it LOL I could easily see the dude from Soprano's in the role of "Gal" but Kingsley did such a "incredible" performance as Logan I have seen him in several films since "Gandhi" and can see this role coming from him, let's not forget he was a monster in the movie with Sigourney Weaver "Death and the Maiden". The supporting roles in this movie were done subtly the part of "Dee Dee" and "Jackie" may have been subtle but were important to the story. I liked this very much and if you like the movies like "Snatch", "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" or "Pulp Fiction" you'll enjoy this one.
Rating: Summary: Kingsley is more than meets the eye Review: Yes, just about everybody who talks about the movie centers on Ben Kingsley's performance, and deservedly so. But I rate the film very highly independent of Kingsley, and something different that I liked about his performance. First, the entire story. A retired gangster is trying to enjoy the good life. The movie shows him as fat and lackadasical, but he wants it that way. He feels he's earned his retirement, and this is exactly what he wants to do. Nobody's going to pull him out of retirement for "one last job", which is why the big boys in London send the Kingsley character to do it. Kingsley's character is not even going to let you condsider thinking about refusing him. He comes on as an extreme hard-ass from the first moment he's on screen, and never lets go. If he says he's going to kill you for an insignificant offense, you don't doubt him for a minute. But what makes Kingsley's performance so special is that you realize how insecure the character is, and Kingsley lets this show. A real pro could have instilled just as much fear in his prey in a much more subtle manner. He's probably not got a long career as a criminal because he attracts too much attention to himself in public, a no-no in the mob. As he's essentially a stupid, insecure, and even frightened character, his tactic is to blitzkrieg your senses before you have a chance to react. He's not a great criminal, but a memorable one, and that's what I really like about it. The surrounding story tries to get a bit artsy, and works more than it doesn't. The Ray Winstone character, even though he's retire, is plagued by his own demons. You even get to see the demon, portrayed as kind of a werewolf, and it sticks with him throughout the movie. The job he is called upon to do is shot very stylishly, but I would think the location they are trying to hit would have security devices that would have detected what they were trying to do. And Ian McShane's performance as the boss who sends Kingsley to fetch Winstone is a perfect portrayal of cold, calculated evil. It's how the Kingsley character SHOULD act, but not nearly as much fun to watch. See it.
Rating: Summary: SEXY BEAST lives up to its name... Review: The mind of the former criminal works in mysterious ways and director John Glazer takes us on a tour of a nice Englishman gone "legit" (Ray Winstone) and the man trying to pull him back into the crimeworld (a very UN-Ghandi Ben Kingsley). Most, if not all, of your typical gangster cliches are tossed right out the window and Glazer keeps the ones you need in order to enjoy the premise of gangster-noir in this very energizing, very spirited movie.
Rating: Summary: Sexy Beast Proves Kingsley's Acting Chops Not So Peacenik Review: SEXY BEAST is a difficult film to review, largely because a wealth of dialogue on the audio track is largely unintelligible to my American ears (be warned, the accents are VERY think); but what words do make sense paint the picture of compelling characters facing difficult choices in the life of crime. Ben Kingsley doesn't just chew scenery as the token villain, Don Logan ... he has it for breakfast, he spits it out, and he walks around in it! Perhaps one of the most vile characters placed on the screen, the viewer can't turn away the eyes or the ears whenever he goes into one of his incredible tirades about duty, honor, and service to crime. Methinks he was robbed of an Oscar, but that's for the voting mob to decide. Worth seeing if only for some wonderful scenery and great performances all around, SEXY BEAST still has the feeling of 'been there, done that.' Kingsley's routing of his four former crime colleagues elevates this one to definitely be worth the wild, wild ride.
Rating: Summary: Good acting. Review: "Sexy Beast" is a good movie. The acting in this movie is good. Ben Kingsly devilvers one of his best carrer performances. The rest of the cast does a good job. The stroy line & plot are good. This is movie is dark and funny. The script is very well written. The DVD is good I enjoy all of the features (mainly trailers). But this is defintly a must see! 8/10
Rating: Summary: Simple story with superb, script,acting and style Review: A good, if not great film. Without a doubt a good touch of Guy Richie here too. Plot is surprisingly simple, but gripping. Ben Kingsley as psychopath/sociopath Don is outstanding - he really is not someone you would want to have around - hence the retired criminals real fear of having him visit. The script writing for all of them is superb, as Don is a recognizably different kind of criminal to all of the others. Ian McShane is excellent too, but he is the standard stuff of movie hardmen. Don is different: his sociopathic tendencies: no small talk, inappropriate and bizarrely obsessive talk and observations, single mindedness, but also every now and then his ability to manipulate situations (when in custody at the airport was unusual and believable). Clearly he is one person who has the potential to do absolutely anything to get his way. When Don is off screen the film becomes much more an ordinary heist job. Very good job all round.
Rating: Summary: Intense Review: Although the story is essentially an old one, without many new twists, (ex-con is blackmailed into doing one last job) Sexy Beast is so well written, directed, and acted that the tension simmers throughout, and you barely notice. Blissfully happy in his retirement in Spain, Gal (Ray Winstone) is far from happy when Don Logan, a connection from his gangster past, shows up to order him back to London, the boss wants him. Gal and his friends try to escape, but are inevitably sucked back into the whole crooked web. The early scenes in Spain show both the paradise that Gal feels he's finally earned, and the claustrophobia of the hot, sticky air once Don Logan's breathing down everyone's necks. The acting is extremely good, from Winstone and Amanda Redman as the almost-happy couple, to Ian McShane as the coldly terrifying Teddy Bass, the boss back in London. Ben Kingsley truly steals the show as Logan--tough, terrifying, angry, paranoid, dangerous and pathetic, ultimately a power-mad second-in-command spinning completely out of control. It's a truly fabulous performance, and gives Sexy Beast a lot of its punch.
Rating: Summary: Ben Kingsley Review: Ben Kingsley creates in Don Logan a psychotic criminal of violent moodiness, delusion and sly malice; there is danger even in the way he offers to pay for someone else's dinner. The writing is darkly funny though ferocious and spare (friends of mine and I have taken to quoting Don: "No no no no no no no no no!"). In fact in all its portrayals the movie is brilliantly acted, and it creates an air of brutality that I can't liken to anything else I've ever seen. Don't expect much plot though--really it is just one long sustained tense situation. And although it's English, the accents are so serious you might turn the subtitles on.
Rating: Summary: Kingsley the "beast" Review: Gal, a pretty-boy mobster from England, has retired with Dee Dee, the love of his life, to a leasurely existence in Spain. Living nearby are Aitch and Jackie, also with previous criminal connections. In an opening scene, Gal is nearly killed in a freak accident as a boulder dislodges from the hillside and rolls into his pool. Enter Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) a completely psychopathic, amoral mobster from England, come to recruit Gal for one last job. The verbal abuse is withering. The threat of violence is palpable. No one is immune. We learn about Dee Dee's past as a porn-star, about Jackie's relationship with Logan. Cut in are Gal's surrealistic dream sequences involving the devil. Is it Logan himself or is it Logan triggering angst about Gal's past? What job does Logan want Gal to do? What was their past? Will Gal relent? How can he possibly say "no"? Masterful acting job by Kingsley. The totality of his amoral personality is truly terrifying. Hard to imagine that such a diminuitive physical presence can generate so much fear. Beautifully filmed. Very imaginative cuts and fades. Surreal dream sequences of devil are interesting. For non-British English speakers, it helps to watch with English subtitles on.
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