Sexy Beast (2001)
Starring: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Country: UK
Genre: Crime, Drama
In 2000 a small British caper film by the name of Snatch was released, and it appealed to my MTV-attention-span with its overly-stylized editing and cartoony characters being put through the craziest of situations. I think for a brief period of time, I considered this film my favorite. So, that being the case, if I had seen Sexy Beast when it was released in 2001, I do not think I would’ve responded to it the way that I did when I eventually did see it. Because Sexy Beast, in a way, is the anti-Snatch.
Sexy Beast takes its time developing its characters and story. In fact, it’s not until about half-way through the film that we actually get a taste of any sort of heist. Before that comes, we’re treated with a hell of a performance from Sir Ben Kingsley, co-starring as a slightly deranged foul-mouthed bionafied modern gangster who tries to convince the main character, (another great performance by Ray Winstone,) to come out of his retirement to do one more job.It’s always a treat when I filmmaker develops an atmosphere of tension where just about anything can happen and the story can take any number of directions. Glazer does this to a brilliant extent. And on top of that, Kingsley is just teeming with intensity, adding another notch in his illustrious belt of ungodly amazing performances.
This is definitely an “adult” movie, and I mean that more in style than content. If Snatch is a 40-oz of Miller High Life, Sexy Beast is a bottle of vintage Don Perignon. Both have their appropriate time and places, but might not be appreciated to the by the same crowds.
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Tags: British, Crime, Drama, Neo Noir, Suspense
2001 Films | this guy over here
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