Review of The Long Good Friday (1980) by Stuart K — 29 Mar 2014
Directed by John Mackenzie (The Innocent (1985), The Fourth Protocol (1987) and When The Sky Falls (2000)), written by playwright Barrie Keeffe. This hard hitting gangster film is powerful and suspenseful, and it benefits from having some great performances in it.
It has a rawness that never lets up, and it's a good time piece of the London underworld in the late 1970's. Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins) is a London gangster who wants to make a name for himself as a legitimate businessman, although he has ties to the Mafia in America, and he wants to use their money to turn the Docklands into a venue for the Olympic Games in the future.
However, members of his inner circle have been picked off by shootings and bombings from an unseen enemy. He learns that one of the victims in his gang had ties to the Provisional IRA, who hold Harold responsible for a job gone wrong a few years before.
So, Harold decides to fight back at them, in the way that he learnt in the London underworld, however his foes seem to have the upper hand. It has a taut plot, and it's one of those "Oh my God, look who's in it!" film.
It was a miracle the film got seen at all. It was originally produced by Lew Grade, who hated the finished film, and wanted to dump it on ITV, but George Harrison got to see it, and picked it up for release.
The rest is all history.
This review of The Long Good Friday (1980) was written by Stuart K on 29 Mar 2014.
The Long Good Friday has generally received very positive reviews.
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