Too much of everything

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Years before the flashy show-off antics of LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS came along, The Long Good Friday showed everyone how it was done - this classic movie easily beats GET CARTER into the top spot of "best British gangster movie ever made". Set over the course of a gruelling 48 hours, The Long Good Friday is an often tense, theatrical, and suspenseful thriller with an unusual plot - gangster Harold must turn detective, using his unorthodox methods, to discover who is responsible for a sudden campaign of violence against him. His methods include slashing up a well-known grass, hanging up suspects in an abattoir along with the carcasses, and committing unreasonable violence to all and sundry. The gangster is played by the one and only Bob Hoskins.Now, I know a lot of people will not be convinced by the authenticity of Hoskins - probably best known to American audiences for his role in WHO KILLED ROGER RABBIT? - playing an East End gangster, but his role is a tour de force here and one he has not matched since. Hoskins creates a violent and unpleasant little man, but is never anything less than likable throughout - you come to sympathise with, and care for his character. Hoskins' superb acting - especially the well-remembered ending in the taxi, where he goes through 360 degrees of emotions using his facial expressions only - is something to behold and holds the film together throughout. On top of this, the excellent cast includes Helen Mirren as his long-suffering wife, a good supporting role from Derek Thompson (BBC1's mild-manned "Charlie" in CASUALTY) who is involved in the film's nastiest scene worthy of a video nasty, P.H. Moriarty as the imposing right-hand man Razors, and a cast seemingly populated by actors and actresses that would go on to achieve fame in later years (Gillian Taylforth, Dexter Fletcher, Paul Barber, Pierce Brosnan).The movie has some spectacular set-pieces, usually involving exploding buildings which come as big surprises, as well as my favourite unexpected moment when two men are gunned out of a glass window on to a race track below. For the most part, the film is a detective story with tons of tension as time ticks down, and you can't keep your eyes off the screen. The last half an hour gives the opportunity for Hoskins to become king of the world, but you know it won't be long before it all comes crashing down for the offbeat and daring conclusion. A true classic, worth watching by all and sundry, this has a superb script full of genuinely witty humour, and a story and characters epic enough to make it feel like a Shakespearian tragedy.

This film is very highly rated by many critics and also by audiences. But unfortunately, the film failed to meet the hype and my expectations from it. Along with being a gangster film, it also has some political aspects related to the IRA. It started out well in a mysterious sort of way and the plot did not get revealed at once. The director chose to gradually unfurl the story step by step. Up to the midway point of the film I was engaged, but since that point, I really lost interest due to the standard and predictable nature in which the plot continued and the ultimate denouement was not a shock at all. Bob Hoskins is one of the few bright spots of the film. He really gives a powerhouse performance portraying raw masculinity and a viscous anger which were essential traits to his character.I wanted to like this and I did like the initial part of the film. But sadly I would have to say that this was a disappointing experience for me overall.

This is the film Guy Ritchie has been trying to remake his whole career, and he's never come close.Big fish in small pond London gangster manages to upset precisely the wrong band of fanatics, and underestimates the enemy to his great cost. In amongst all the violence, there's true drama and pathos (Helen Mirren, for goodness' sake - is she capable of giving a bad performance?), while the humour never seems forced or tacked on. This isn't a glossy, GQ Magazine, drama schoolboys playing poker with over-the-top wide-boy accents, token one-dimensional crumpet British gangster flick. Oh no. Superb performances from the entire cast, including Pierce Brosnan's finest movie role to date (he doesn't say anything), and Oh! what an ending! Verdict: Mockney Gangster Porn? I've sh*t it! NOTE: disappointing note on the DVD release - the director's commentary is one of the most dull and un-insightful commentaries since I sat through half of Tim Burton's commentary on Edward Scissorhands. Most disappointing!yetanotherfilmreviewblog.tumblr.com

This wasn't quite the classic noir gangster film I was hoping it was going to be, but it's certainly worth a view if you're into that sort of thing (I am).For the positives you have a solid cast, led by Hoskins and Mirren. I didn't quite buy Hoskins in a couple of the early scenes (notably the Hands Across the Pond speech and his first big scene with his assembled cronies) but the totality of the performance is very compelling, especially his ill-fated outro. Mirren is great as the only deft and clever (and sexy) member of his entourage.The dialogue--the bits of it I could understand of it anyway--was well-written, and that's always appreciated.The movie also sported some great, lived-in locations that gives the movie a bit of scummy charm that would have been overly glossed if made today.For the negatives you are pretty much stuck with a rather clueless and boorish main character whose redeeming qualities are few and far between. Good person? No. Good gangster? No. Good protagonist? Debatable. I found it really hard to care about Shand and his tribulations or his inevitable downfall. The last scene would have been killer if I gave a crap (I did not) and how that scene works for you is probably the litmus test for the whole movie.Though, to be fair, Harold Shand is a cuddly teddy bear next to twitchy psycho Tony Montana, mad-dog psycho sexy beast Don Logan, and the not-psycho but still a serial murderer from Get Carter (I forget his name).The pacing is also a little slow. The first 2/3 has too many befuddled gangster scenes and not enough tension. The last 1/3 is all "wake me when Hoskins buys it". My attention wandered in a couple of scenes and it really could have been trimmed by 10 minutes or so.Still there's enough compelling content for a look, especially if you're a fan of Hoskins, Mirren, gangsters, or shady urban-renewal projects.