Review of Sexy Beast (2001) by Anne F — 20 Dec 2008

I've seen this at least six times, and I can say without any hesitation whatsoever that it's at or very near the top of my list of 'coolest movies ever made'. To begin with, one of the main characters is a guy named Gal, which gives you an indication that anything is about to go. And it does. Ray Winstone plays Gary 'Gal' Dove, a retired British gangster now living the good life in sunny Spain, and the opening scene where he's poolside baking in the sun as The Stranglers' song Peaches blasts from the soundtrack gives a good indication of the fun that's in store. His voice-over, in full Cockney accent, will bring a dumb smile to your face that will remain plastered there for the rest of the movie, if you're anything like me. Shortly thereafter, Gal comes heart-stoppingly close to being obliterated by a falling boulder the size of a small planet, which lands splashingly at the bottom of the pool. A foreshadowing of things to come? I won't spill the beans here. You'll just have to see for yourself. Not long after that life-threatening event, the sweet life of Gal and his wife Deedee (Amanda Redman) is interrupted by a visit from Gal's old associate Don Logan (Ben Kingsley, in mad dog mode (should've gotten the Oscar, but the Academy blew it by giving it to Jim Broadbent for Iris)). Kingsley should've sent Don Logan to piss on their bathroom carpets. But, never mind. Logan is on a mission from head gangster Teddy Bass (a never more terrifying Ian McShane) to recruit Gal for a bank job back in England, and he's not the kind of guy who takes no for an answer. But that's exactly the answer Gal tries to give him, leading to some hilarious interplay between the two men, with Gal in serious fear for his life, but refusing to give an inch, and Logan using every threat he has at his disposal, spoken and unspoken, to try to convince him otherwise. [Example - Gal: I'm going to have to turn this opportunity down.

Don: No, you're going to have to turn this opportunity YES!] You can probably guess that Gal does end up doing the job, but in the meantime Don Logan has mysteriously disappeared, much to the consternation of Teddy Bass, who suspects Gal of some unnamed foul play. The scenes between Winstone and McShane are nail-bitingly tense, as Bass tries to use the sheer force of his personality to break down Gal's defences, while Gal tries to project innocence and calm, while sweating bullets and trying to keep from cracking under the pressure. McShane has one of the best lines in the movie in a conversation with Harry (James Fox), the inside man on the bank job. [Teddy: What are you staring at? Harry: The back of your head. Teddy: Well, don't. Stare at the back of your own fucking head.] McShane's dry delivery kills me every single time. And another classic, when Bass is asked by his right-hand man if he thinks the bank job is 'do-able', he replies, "Where there's a will - and there is a fucking will - there's a way - and there is a fucking way." Kudos to first-time screenwriters Louis Mellis and David Scinto, who never set a foot wrong. Just check out Don Logan's extended monologue in the scene where he's being thrown off the plane for refusing to put out his cigarette, during which he accuses one of the stewards of inappropriately touching his 'front bottom'. Absolutely brilliant, and brilliantly delivered by Kingsley, with a feigned innocence that has to be seen to be believed. We know what Logan is like, and to see him play the sexual victim of an airline steward that he could no doubt eat for lunch on a bad day is just too delicious to be described. I almost neglected to mention the demonic machine-gun toting rabbit-like creature that keeps appearing in Gal's dreams. I know what you're thinking, that it's shades of Donnie Darko, but Beast was released in 2000 and Darko in 2001, so no more needs to be said about that. I think the movie could've done without that particular invention, but it does add a certain amount of fun to the proceedings, and when the writing is this good, we can forgive an indulgence or two. Last but not least, a huge amount of credit has to go to director Jonathan Glazer, who achieved brilliance here, in his feature film debut, and followed it up with the intriguing Birth in 2004. He may never come close to topping Sexy Beast, but I for one will be watching closely to see if he has the balls to try.