Review of Legend (2015) by Luis M — 07 May 2016

"Legend is a muddled but captivating crime drama featuring Tom Hardy in two stellar performances as the Kray twins.".

Movie Review: Legend.

Date Viewed: January 11 2015.

Directed By Brian Helgeland (42, Payback and A Knight's Tale).

Screenplay By Brian Helgeland, Based on the novel "The Profession of Violence" by John Pearson.

Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, David Thewlis, Christopher Eccleston, Chazz Palminteri, Taron Egerton, Paul Bettany, Colin Morgan, Tara Fitzgerald, Paul Anderson and Kevin McNally.

As I said in previous reviews, Tom Hardy is one of the finest actors working today. His willingness to take on any role is extraordinary. His new role or should I say new roles in "Legend" make him a one man show. "Legend" may have a bad title and a muddled script but it is still a captivating crime drama featuring Hardy in two stellar performances as London's most dangerous crime duo, the Kray twins (Reggie and Ronnie).

Set in the 1960s in London's East End, "Legend" is about the rise and fall of London's most dangerous crime figures. Reggie Kray (Hardy) is a former boxer who has started off his own criminal organization while his twin brother Ronnie (Hardy) is locked up in a mental hospital. However, Reggie manages to make a deal with psychiatric ward to release Ronnie prematurely. Reggie is also a nightclub owner and has a successful business. He also starts a relationship with a young girl named Frances Shea (Emily Browning). She first met Reggie when she was 16 and she married him at 22 in 1965.

Reggie's twin brother, Ronnie is a different case, he's a complete psychopathic killer who also happens to be homosexual. When Reggie has to serve time in prison, Ronnie keeps an eye on his nightclub until he is released but his sociological state and physical violence causes customers to turn away from the nightclub. When Reggie is released from prison, he and Ronnie get into a big fight over the state of the nightclub. Eventually, they resolve their differences and try to make a fifty-fifty deal with Philadelphia mob boss Angelo Bruno (Chazz Palminteri).

When the deal gets reached, the Kray brothers will have complete protection from Scotland Yard. Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read (Christopher Eccleston) wants to throw the book at them even though the Kray brothers are completely untouchable. However, the one thing that could take the Krays is Ronnie himself. His psychotic behavior continues to be a problem for Reggie and his successful enterprise.

"Legend" was written and directed by veteran screenwriter Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Man on Fire, Green Zone, Mystic River), he made a fascinating character study but this movie has all the familiar elements from better gangster movies, the rise to power, the girlfriend wanting her lover to go straight and leave his business for good, the out-of-control behavior from a complete nut, the good-looking cars, the successful deals which will lead to lots of dough and of course the epic downfall.

Tom Hardy is terrific here as both Reggie and Ronnie Kray but Emily Browning is miscast here as Reggie's girlfriend. She serves as the narrator as well and her narration should've been left out of the movie because it is completely unnecessary. David Thewlis and Eccleston give fine supporting roles as the Krays' business manager and the detective who's trying to take down the Krays. It is also nice to see Chazz Palminteri back to playing crime figures after starring in one of the biggest box office flops in modern times, "The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure".

Not every gangster movie can be Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" but I still enjoyed "Legend" for the sheer performances by Tom Hardy, the production design and the costumes.