Movie Scene
'Sexy Beast': A thug's life
By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle
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Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone in "Sexy Beast." Stars: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley Director: Jonathan Glazer *** 1/2, Rated R, with strong profanity and violence. 91 minutes. |
Then Sexy Beast offers one of the best movie openings ever, as Gal's world literally comes crashing down. (To say exactly how would spoil the joke.)
Soon after, Gal receives an ominous message: "Don Logan called from London." Don (Ben Kingsley) is the enforcer for a London mob boss, and he wants Gal to come back for one more heist. (As gangsters and gangster-movie buffs both know, there's always one more job.)
It is Don's re-entry into Gal's life that brings his world figuratively crashing down – and provides the crux of this black comedy. And it is Kingsley's violent, thuggish Don that may reinvent the actor in the eyes of filmgoers. After Gal resists the invitation, Don hops the next plane for Spain – sending Gal and his wife, Deedee (Amanda Redman), a former porn star, into an anxious debate over how to avoid Gal's return to "the life." When Don arrives, the battle of wills begins.
Don would seem to have the brute strength and the vicious streak required to win. Before it's over, Sexy Beast offers surprises galore, along with a rousing heist sequence in England and continuing mysteries in Spain.
And there's the added treat of the mature romance between Gal and Deedee. Whatever their shady pasts, they're working to have a respectable life together now -- and are willing to fight to preserve it. Ultimately, Sexy Beast is more about the depth of their love than about criminal actions.
The entire movie is shot with clever angles, crisp editing and cinematic wit, impressively delivered by first-time director Jonathan Glazer, a wunderkind of British commercials and music videos by Radiohead and Jamiroquai.
Glazer also demonstrates skill with actors. Every performance is first-rate: the dependable Winstone and Redman, as the beleaguered Gal and Deedee; Ian McShane as the London mob boss who pulls the strings; and Julianne White and Cavan Kendall as Gal's best friends in Spain.
But the chief treat is Kingsley's jaw-dropping portrayal of Don Logan, a darkly coiled force of nature with a foul mouth and a fouler attitude.
Yes, it's that Kingsley, the classically trained British actor who has come to epitomize decency and sainthood as Gandhi, and more recently in Schindler's List.
It's tempting to call Don the anti-Gandhi, for this vile sociopath is 180 degrees removed from the peaceful Indian leader. It's hard to imagine the Mahatma puffing away on a cig on a nonsmoking flight -- and scaring the airplane attendants so much that they let him do it.
From now on, if any casting director tells Kingsley he hasn't escaped Gandhi's shadow, the actor need merely point to his portrayal as the nastiest villain in recent memory.
If you don't believe him, he'll bust your kneecaps.
