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SEXY BEAST Send This Review to a Friend
You may never be able to look at Ben Kinsgley in the same way again if you see him as the vicious, psychotic, unflinchingly mean and egomaniacal gangster in "Sexy Beast," a nasty little British crime tale elevated by the expertise with which it is made. The quality of its performances and the tense storytelling give the film more weight than the lowlifes depicted deserve.
Kingsley as London criminal Don Logan, his Cockney accent almost obscuring the stream of obscenities punctuating his dialogue, arrives at the Spanish coastal retreat where Gal (played by Ray Winstone), retired from the world of robbery, is determined to live the good life with his wife, Deedee (Amanda Redman), whom he loves deeply. It is a sign of things to come when a boulder crashes down from the hills into his pool after nearly clobbering him. He and his pals, Aitch (Cavan Kendall) and Jackie (Julianne White), are enjoying themselves, until terror strikes with a call from Don announcing his arrival to enlist Gal in a job requiring special expertise. The build-up of fear tips us off as to what a menace Don is.
Kingsley doesn't let us down. The boulder was a spitball compared to the avalanche of nastiness and hate that Kingsley projects. He won't hear of Gal's refusal to take the job because he's retired, and the meanness keeps escalating. Before we learn the outcome of the face-off, we find Gal back in London doing what he is supposed to do, working with confederates to pull off an elaborate theft requiring underwater entry. The robbery scenes are inter-cut with revealing shots back in Spain. Director Jonathan Glazer, working with the screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, is fond of such cutting back and forth, including the use of Gal's frightening dream sequences, involving a strange, hairy beast, which is a rather obvious device given what a beast Don is.
There is a murderous iciness to the film's tone, emphasized in a particularly bloody sequence and a brutal moment involving Ian McShane as another gangland boss. The underwater heist is visually interesting, but not dwelled on for long. "Sexy Beast" thrives on cool cynicism, but there is also an undercurrent of love expressed between Gal, played like a good-natured, lumbering, decent guy (so what if he's a criminal) and Deedee, who is humiliated by Don. One roots for them against Don, which isn't difficult, considering what a dangerous bully he is.
A well-made, tough film like "Sexy Beast" is the kind that gets some critics overly excited and can also develop a cult following. Yet it hardly offers the best way to spend one's time when measured against various more meaningful current films, such as "Bread and Roses," "Divided We Fall" and "Songcatcher," to name a few. A Fox Searchlight Pictures release.
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