 |
|
|
|
Gangster Number 1 (2002)
 email this review to a friend
Movie Review by Lisa
February 20th, 2007
|  |
Possibly the best British gangster movie ever. Guy Ritchie's movies were most entertaining but they look more like a comedy when compared to Gangster Number 1 which seems to depict a much more serious image of the London underworld.
When I first watched this someone told me it was a Kubrick film which I might have almost believed if I hadn't checked out the director on the DVD box before the movie started. There is a definite Kubrick influence in Paul McGuigan's movie; this comes across a little more due to the fact that he cast Malcolm McDowell as our un-named aging gangster.
The movie begins in present day when our man McDowell (Head Gangster) is given the news that his old boss Freddy Mayes (David Thewlis) has been released from jail. We then flash back to 1968 where we see the young McDowell (Paul Bettany) learn the ropes and cut his teeth in the crime racket. Bettany/McDowell becomes quite good at his job and rises through the ranks quickly by committing various acts of violence and soon realizes that he wants to be top dog and knows exactly what to do to get there. The film ends with old McDowell coming face to face with Freddy Mayes the man who McDowell had viciously dethroned.
The thing that caught me most off guard with this movie was that I found myself more interested in the story in 1968 with Bettany than I was of the McDowell scenes that had initially got my interest. Paul Bettany and David Thewlis both put on great performances; I enjoyed Bettany so much that I would later sit through the film "Wimbledon".
At the beginning of this review I used the word 'Possibly' I'd like to scratch that and add this is the best British gangster movie ever, and if your not afraid of a little blood and violence then its totally worth watching.
email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.
Join or Login. |
 | Javi
Feb 20, 2007 3:19 PM
| |
With Layer Cake being a "British gangster movie" I'm going to respectfully ask for a title match for Champion Movie of this genre.
Let the fight begin! :-) |
 | Zara
Feb 20, 2007 8:44 PM
| |
| I like Saffron Burrows. I'll have to check this one out. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
Feb 20, 2007 3:22 PM
Feb 21, 2007 3:46 PM