Sheer Class, Pure Gangster
Saw Legend today!
It feels like I've been waiting to see this film forever (my sympathies to my US peeps who will have to wait a while longer), and, for the most part, I was satisfied with what I got. Which feels weird to say, I have to admit, because plot/narrative-wise, the film is a damn mess.
BUT
The film rides on Tom Hardy's two performances, and those performances were great. Like a lot of other people and reviewers said, there were long stretches where I forgot that it was Tom Hardy playing both roles, because his portrayals of Reggie and Ronnie were so distinct. Reggie's leading man swagger and smooth charm contrasted marvellously with Ronnie's dead-eyed menace - although Ron has a very odd, awkward charm all to himself. There's a great scene - after Reggie is packed off to prison, and Ron is the only man in charge of their club/casino - where Ron jokes and banters with Teddy, before getting up on stage to insult and berate his casino clientele (and subject them to his awful trumpet playing and laughably bad stand-up). It's brilliant and hilarious, and endeared Ron to me (even though he's an objectively horrible person, as is Reggie).
Also! Speaking of hilarious, the film was very, very funny, which I hadn't expected. There was the borderline slapstick of the twins' slapfight (just as magnificent as I was hoping it would be), and a huge amount of dark humour arising from jokes about violence, torture, death, and other terrible things, and/or comedy juxtaposed with said terrible things. The humour was a great compliment to the nastiness of the twins' gangster lifestyle.
Everything speeds along at a rather fast pace, which is arguably necessary, since the film covers a rather long time frame. That being said, I would argue that there are other movies - other gangster movies, even - which cover even longer time frames, and don't need that breakneck pace or so much voiceover narration. Anyway, I digress. As the movie went on, I felt that the story started to suffer because it was speeding along so quickly. There were a lot of events (particularly in the last third of the film) that could have, and should have, had more emotional resonance, but didn't because things moved along so quickly. I actually grew slightly frustrated toward the end, because I wanted the film to go deeper into things, to slow down and explore something - anything! If I had to pick, I would've wanted a greater exploration of the twins' relationship, to see why Reggie was so loyal to Ronnie (and vice versa). The film didn't really cover it with sufficient depth, beyond 'they're twins' and Reggie saying he's been taking care of Ronnie for a long time. There were the neat soundbites we got from the trailers (e.g. "I can't do that, he's my brother," and "My loyalty to my brother is how I measure myself"), but things didn't get very much into the why of things.
There was a good (if somewhat heavy handed) scene in the last third of the movie, following Ron's murder of George Cornell, in which it's made very clear that Ron is Mama Kray's favourite. She dotes on him, seemingly anticipates his wants and needs before he voices them, then... belatedly, off-handedly offers the same to Reg. Then, to top it off, she tells him that "whatever Ron did, you have to forgive him". And Reg does, looking (and sounding) tired and resigned and browbeaten. I wanted more of that. Not necessarily family moments, but a closer examinationof things. Less speed, more depth, captain!
The third act of the movie is also structured rather oddly, and, as I said before, lacked that emotional resonance it really should've had. Rather than being utterly devastating and shattering, the events of the third act left me thinking, 'ah, yes, the movie is going to end soon'.
(Also, I'm just going to say here: that rape scene was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story. The filmmakers already set Reggie up as being controlling and emotionally/verbally abusive. But apparently that wasn't enough! He had to rape her, too, to fill the abusive husband bingo card. Yergh. But, okay, fine, let's say, hypothetically speaking, it just had to be included. If it really did have to be included, they undermined its impact by totally glossing over it for the rest of the film!)
Perhaps it's because I've read the book, so I'm seeing things with a sense of 'what could've been' rather than judging the movie as is. But, when reading the book, the central conflict was made very clear. The film needed that sort of clarity. There's a crippling co-dependency in the twins' relationship, in the book: Reggie, having structured his identity around being Ronnie's carer and protector, can never completely extricate himself from that relationship, and Ronnie, having this need to be first in Reggie's list of priorities, no matter what, can't do it either. And while there were definitely flashes of that in the film, the central, largely psychological conflict between the twins was slow to unfold, and was muddied by a lot of side events (some of which could've been cut, in my opinion).
I know this is all seems like one part praise, two parts criticism, but I genuinely liked the movie. I liked it a lot, even with those deep flaws, because Tom Hardy was seriously that amazing in it. And I'd watch it again, if only to savour the things I really enjoyed - namely Tom Hardy's amazing performance(s), and the darkly funny humour - and to further indulge my fondness for crime movies.
Other things I enjoyed:
It feels like I've been waiting to see this film forever (my sympathies to my US peeps who will have to wait a while longer), and, for the most part, I was satisfied with what I got. Which feels weird to say, I have to admit, because plot/narrative-wise, the film is a damn mess.
BUT
The film rides on Tom Hardy's two performances, and those performances were great. Like a lot of other people and reviewers said, there were long stretches where I forgot that it was Tom Hardy playing both roles, because his portrayals of Reggie and Ronnie were so distinct. Reggie's leading man swagger and smooth charm contrasted marvellously with Ronnie's dead-eyed menace - although Ron has a very odd, awkward charm all to himself. There's a great scene - after Reggie is packed off to prison, and Ron is the only man in charge of their club/casino - where Ron jokes and banters with Teddy, before getting up on stage to insult and berate his casino clientele (and subject them to his awful trumpet playing and laughably bad stand-up). It's brilliant and hilarious, and endeared Ron to me (even though he's an objectively horrible person, as is Reggie).
Also! Speaking of hilarious, the film was very, very funny, which I hadn't expected. There was the borderline slapstick of the twins' slapfight (just as magnificent as I was hoping it would be), and a huge amount of dark humour arising from jokes about violence, torture, death, and other terrible things, and/or comedy juxtaposed with said terrible things. The humour was a great compliment to the nastiness of the twins' gangster lifestyle.
Everything speeds along at a rather fast pace, which is arguably necessary, since the film covers a rather long time frame. That being said, I would argue that there are other movies - other gangster movies, even - which cover even longer time frames, and don't need that breakneck pace or so much voiceover narration. Anyway, I digress. As the movie went on, I felt that the story started to suffer because it was speeding along so quickly. There were a lot of events (particularly in the last third of the film) that could have, and should have, had more emotional resonance, but didn't because things moved along so quickly. I actually grew slightly frustrated toward the end, because I wanted the film to go deeper into things, to slow down and explore something - anything! If I had to pick, I would've wanted a greater exploration of the twins' relationship, to see why Reggie was so loyal to Ronnie (and vice versa). The film didn't really cover it with sufficient depth, beyond 'they're twins' and Reggie saying he's been taking care of Ronnie for a long time. There were the neat soundbites we got from the trailers (e.g. "I can't do that, he's my brother," and "My loyalty to my brother is how I measure myself"), but things didn't get very much into the why of things.
There was a good (if somewhat heavy handed) scene in the last third of the movie, following Ron's murder of George Cornell, in which it's made very clear that Ron is Mama Kray's favourite. She dotes on him, seemingly anticipates his wants and needs before he voices them, then... belatedly, off-handedly offers the same to Reg. Then, to top it off, she tells him that "whatever Ron did, you have to forgive him". And Reg does, looking (and sounding) tired and resigned and browbeaten. I wanted more of that. Not necessarily family moments, but a closer examinationof things. Less speed, more depth, captain!
The third act of the movie is also structured rather oddly, and, as I said before, lacked that emotional resonance it really should've had. Rather than being utterly devastating and shattering, the events of the third act left me thinking, 'ah, yes, the movie is going to end soon'.
(Also, I'm just going to say here: that rape scene was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story. The filmmakers already set Reggie up as being controlling and emotionally/verbally abusive. But apparently that wasn't enough! He had to rape her, too, to fill the abusive husband bingo card. Yergh. But, okay, fine, let's say, hypothetically speaking, it just had to be included. If it really did have to be included, they undermined its impact by totally glossing over it for the rest of the film!)
Perhaps it's because I've read the book, so I'm seeing things with a sense of 'what could've been' rather than judging the movie as is. But, when reading the book, the central conflict was made very clear. The film needed that sort of clarity. There's a crippling co-dependency in the twins' relationship, in the book: Reggie, having structured his identity around being Ronnie's carer and protector, can never completely extricate himself from that relationship, and Ronnie, having this need to be first in Reggie's list of priorities, no matter what, can't do it either. And while there were definitely flashes of that in the film, the central, largely psychological conflict between the twins was slow to unfold, and was muddied by a lot of side events (some of which could've been cut, in my opinion).
I know this is all seems like one part praise, two parts criticism, but I genuinely liked the movie. I liked it a lot, even with those deep flaws, because Tom Hardy was seriously that amazing in it. And I'd watch it again, if only to savour the things I really enjoyed - namely Tom Hardy's amazing performance(s), and the darkly funny humour - and to further indulge my fondness for crime movies.
Other things I enjoyed:
- Frank and Frances' sibling relationship - we didn't see a lot of it, but it was a good mirror/foil to Reg and Ron's relationship; both Frank and Reg are protective of their mentally ill siblings, but Frank is able to care for Frances without being subsumed by her or growing resentful. Similarly, Frances accepts being cared for without lashing out or demanding Frank's undivided attention/manipulating Frank for more.
- Teddy's apparent little crush on Reg (his "She's right, you do look really lovely," to Reg was funny and sweet, and the subsequent hurt on his face when Reg basically called him useless gave him a touch more depth beyond 'Ron's nutter boy toy')
- Emily Browning's performance as Frances. It's not as immediately compelling as Tom Hardy's, but she did well with what the script gave her, yo.