Legend - directed by Brian Helgeland
Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Christopher Eccleston, Colin Morgan, Taron Egerton, Paul Bettany, David Thewlis, Chazz Palminteri, Joshua Hill, Tara Fitzgerald, Nicholas Farrell, Adam Fogerty, Sam Spruell, John Sessions
Running Time: 131 minutes
Rated: R18 - Violence and a lot of profanity
"I've never been careless with the truth" says Frances Shea in her opening narration in this film.
An odd statement for a movie that plays fast and loose with the truth.
This film like "Black Mass" (review) is a based on a true story crime flick.
In this case it is the story of notorious English gangster twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray.
The trailers for "Legend" focus heavily on the fact that Tom Hardy plays both roles and I suggest that it is a smart move for two reasons.
One I will hold off for now but the other is that Tom Hardy has rapidly become a selling point for a movie.
It was only last week at a screening of "Black Mass" that a group of four women arriving during the pre-movie trailers stopped in their tracks on a chardonnay fueled stumble to their seats beside me to gush 'Ooh... Tom Hardy- we should see that!'
Reggie and Ronnie Kray were infamous in 1960's London.
They ran clubs and took part in all manner of criminal endeavours from extortion to armed robberies and protection rackets.
There was in fact a third Kray- older brother Charlie but he does not feature in this film.
The focus is far too tight to include such characters.
Writer-director Brian Helgeland chooses to concentrate mainly on the relationship between Reggie Kray and Frances Shea (Emily Browning)
The timeframe that he includes sees the twins already established as East London gangsters running clubs.
There is no detail as to how they got to this point.
We do hear some details about Reggie and Ronnie from Frances' narration but it amounts to some very vague references to a boxing career and some general opinions on their characters.
Ronnie is portrayed as gay but in fact was bisexual and did marry twice.
This aspect of his character is used more for comedic affect than anything.
In fact it could be argued that "Legend" is as much comedy as it is crime film.
This is down to the performance of Hardy as Ronnie.
Speaking as if his mouth is stuffed with cotton wool like Brando in The Godfather Hardy's portrayal of Ronnie is a gift that keeps on giving.
Hardy plays him in either a state of relative calm or in full on psycho mode - staring and twitching- the threat of violent explosion ever present.
Both states provide plenty of entertainment.
We get a buffoon apt to utter absurdities on the one hand and a violent sociopath on the other.
On the flip side his portrayal of Reggie pales by comparison.
Running Time: 131 minutes
Rated: R18 - Violence and a lot of profanity
"I've never been careless with the truth" says Frances Shea in her opening narration in this film.
An odd statement for a movie that plays fast and loose with the truth.
This film like "Black Mass" (review) is a based on a true story crime flick.
In this case it is the story of notorious English gangster twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray.
The trailers for "Legend" focus heavily on the fact that Tom Hardy plays both roles and I suggest that it is a smart move for two reasons.
One I will hold off for now but the other is that Tom Hardy has rapidly become a selling point for a movie.
It was only last week at a screening of "Black Mass" that a group of four women arriving during the pre-movie trailers stopped in their tracks on a chardonnay fueled stumble to their seats beside me to gush 'Ooh... Tom Hardy- we should see that!'
Reggie and Ronnie Kray were infamous in 1960's London.
They ran clubs and took part in all manner of criminal endeavours from extortion to armed robberies and protection rackets.
There was in fact a third Kray- older brother Charlie but he does not feature in this film.
The focus is far too tight to include such characters.
Writer-director Brian Helgeland chooses to concentrate mainly on the relationship between Reggie Kray and Frances Shea (Emily Browning)
The timeframe that he includes sees the twins already established as East London gangsters running clubs.
There is no detail as to how they got to this point.
We do hear some details about Reggie and Ronnie from Frances' narration but it amounts to some very vague references to a boxing career and some general opinions on their characters.
Ronnie is portrayed as gay but in fact was bisexual and did marry twice.
This aspect of his character is used more for comedic affect than anything.
In fact it could be argued that "Legend" is as much comedy as it is crime film.
This is down to the performance of Hardy as Ronnie.
Speaking as if his mouth is stuffed with cotton wool like Brando in The Godfather Hardy's portrayal of Ronnie is a gift that keeps on giving.
Hardy plays him in either a state of relative calm or in full on psycho mode - staring and twitching- the threat of violent explosion ever present.
Both states provide plenty of entertainment.
We get a buffoon apt to utter absurdities on the one hand and a violent sociopath on the other.
 |
| Tom Hardy as Reggie & Ronnie with Christopher Eccleston |
Hardy has a lot less to work with when portraying Reggie and the movie only really comes to life when Ronnie is centre stage.
Reggie is a tough guy but he is also a charming, generous one - when set beside his brother at least.
By electing to tell the twins story from the point of view of Frances it robs the movie of much of the detail that might have made it more interesting.
The appeal of crime movies is largely in the fascination in watching the rise and fall of their protagonists.
"Scarface" isn't about a guy who snorts a pile of coke off a table and shoots a bunch of guys before being gunned down - it is the story of a small time thug who rose to become a drug kingpin then screwed it all up.
The real Kray twins have a similar story but it is not one that this film is interested in.
In fact I am not sure what story this film is trying to tell.
It dabbles in about three angles and does none of them justice.
There is the story of a girl falling for the wrong guy, a cop trying to bring down a couple of criminals and two very different Brothers attempting to build an empire without turning on each other.
Helgeland seems about to find an interesting angle several times but on each occasion backs away and tries something else just as things were looking good.
The policeman Nipper Read (Christopher Eccleston) is set up early as a nemesis for the Krays but disappears for much of the film shortly afterwards.
Emily Browning is great as Frances Shea but isn't given nearly enough to do to make her part in the story remotely interesting.
Likewise rival criminal figure Charley Richardson played by Paul Bettany (very, very good) is dumped just as he is becoming fascinating.
We are left with Ronnie doing the heavy lifting when it comes to entertainment.
Hardy's playing of this character skirts very, very close to ridiculousness but stays just on the right side of it.
It is a blast to watch.
So much so in fact the it renders his other performance as Reggie bland in comparison.
But the movie is far more interested in the latter.
For a movie that runs over two hours there is a surprising lack of scope to "Legend".
It is a fine vehicle for the considerable talent of Tom Hardy and everyone around him does a terrific job too but the script lets this one down.
I know nothing more about the Krays than I did going in.
The direction is perfectly fine without being particularly impressive.
On the whole this film suffers from the same flaws that "Black Mass" does.
It delivers nothing new to a well known tale that has been presented better before in a genre rich with superior fare.
Excellent central performances aside both movies don't have much more to recommend them.
RATING: 70/ 100
CONCLUSION: Characters with history as rich as this deserve better. Ultimately Legend serves as yet more evidence (if it were needed) of what a talent Hardy is but does little to assist writer-director Helgeland in kind.
Reggie is a tough guy but he is also a charming, generous one - when set beside his brother at least.
By electing to tell the twins story from the point of view of Frances it robs the movie of much of the detail that might have made it more interesting.
The appeal of crime movies is largely in the fascination in watching the rise and fall of their protagonists.
"Scarface" isn't about a guy who snorts a pile of coke off a table and shoots a bunch of guys before being gunned down - it is the story of a small time thug who rose to become a drug kingpin then screwed it all up.
The real Kray twins have a similar story but it is not one that this film is interested in.
In fact I am not sure what story this film is trying to tell.
It dabbles in about three angles and does none of them justice.
There is the story of a girl falling for the wrong guy, a cop trying to bring down a couple of criminals and two very different Brothers attempting to build an empire without turning on each other.
Helgeland seems about to find an interesting angle several times but on each occasion backs away and tries something else just as things were looking good.
The policeman Nipper Read (Christopher Eccleston) is set up early as a nemesis for the Krays but disappears for much of the film shortly afterwards.
Emily Browning is great as Frances Shea but isn't given nearly enough to do to make her part in the story remotely interesting.
Likewise rival criminal figure Charley Richardson played by Paul Bettany (very, very good) is dumped just as he is becoming fascinating.
We are left with Ronnie doing the heavy lifting when it comes to entertainment.
Hardy's playing of this character skirts very, very close to ridiculousness but stays just on the right side of it.
It is a blast to watch.
So much so in fact the it renders his other performance as Reggie bland in comparison.
But the movie is far more interested in the latter.
 |
| Emily Browning as Frances |
It is a fine vehicle for the considerable talent of Tom Hardy and everyone around him does a terrific job too but the script lets this one down.
I know nothing more about the Krays than I did going in.
The direction is perfectly fine without being particularly impressive.
On the whole this film suffers from the same flaws that "Black Mass" does.
It delivers nothing new to a well known tale that has been presented better before in a genre rich with superior fare.
Excellent central performances aside both movies don't have much more to recommend them.
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