Sexy Beast

Ray Winstone and a fearsome Ben Kinglsey star in this cult gangster modern classic.

Gary Dove (Ray Winstone) is a content ex-gangster enjoying his retirement from the "business" in a Spanish villa. His all too perfect life is interrupted by the arrival of a feared gangland heavy (Kingsley) whose job is to force Dove into one last job. 

Sexy Beast could have been a routine gangster flick in the tired style of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrells, is lifted into the realms of classic by the performances of the cast and Jonathan Glazer's eye-catching direction.

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Winstone does his usual lovable cockney schtick which we've all come to know and love - that warm, teddy bear persona mixed with a temper that could explode at any moment. But it's Ben Kingsley here who is the revelation, it's amazing to think that this is the same actor who played Gandhi!

In the role of Don Logan, Kingsley positively spits flames, his mouth spewing out abuse in ever more creative ways. That such a small actor can become so menacing shows that Kingsley is at the peak of his powers here.

Along with the riveting exchanges between Winstone and Kingsley the film scores highly for its inventively surreal moments. Dove's demons manifest in the shape of a horrific looking man-size rabbit figure. The perfection of his life in Spain is evoked through slow-motion sequences as he watches his wife walk around the swimming pool. Glazer also makes use of some unorthodox camera angles heightening the tension that everybody feels while Don Logan is around.

Sexy Beast throbs with the threat of violence, there is precious little actual gore in the film but it nearly always feels just seconds away, you find yourself expecting Logan to completely lose it at any moment.

The film falters slightly when Gal (Winstone) ends up back in England for the final heist, sure there are some decent double-crossing moments to be had but the loss of Kingsley's character leaves a gaping hole for the rest of the running time. 

Nevertheless, for some super-charged performances and a visually arresting spectacle, Sexy Beast is a modern gangster movie par excellence.