The story is this: a retired thief (Winstone) regrettably gets sucked back into the criminal underworld by an old colleague (Kingsley).
Dylan: So what did you think?
Mark: Well, it wasn’t what I thought it’d be. Excluding the title -- the relevance of which I am still unsure of -- I thought this would deal more with the criminal dealings that were brought up rather early on. When it starts, we meet Gal (Ray Winstone) as he goes about his very laid back life in Spain with his wife and two friends. The movie moves at a slow fucking crawl, giving us time to really see who these characters are. Then they reference how Gal is going to be asked to join a job by an old, but very violent and apparently feared/disliked, colleague... and then it’s another hour until the job happens. And with this being fairly short by modern standards, it’s a long time for character development.
Dylan: In retrospect, one thing I actually liked was how the movie ended up not really being about the heist. For a while I was wondering when things would start to pick up, and then I happened to pause it to get a drink or something and realized there was only like twenty minutes left. So instead of being your run-of-the-mill heist movie, it is actually about Ray Winstone trying desperately to protect himself and his friends from the mistakes of his old life. Despite this, I certainly did not find the movie boring. It was just...odd. I think I liked it though. I am like 89% sure that I liked it. For some reason I always enjoy Ray Winstone. And Ben Kingsley, who I can’t really say I have seen in many roles, was pretty terrifying. I liked that the movie has a certain sense of humor, and yet still manages to be very suspenseful.
Mark: I totally agree. I’d say, in a way, it’s a lot like Reservoir Dogs, in that the actual heist (which, unlike Reservoir Dogs, we do actually see) isn’t the focus of the story. What I liked was the way they handled Gal’s character. He’s a man who went to jail for, I think it was eight years, and when he came out he didn’t go back to the life nor seek restitution, but rather moved on. He found real love with someone, and this love is the one thing that keeps him going. Then the movie really concerns itself with what happens when you take this fairly controlled ex-con and factor in someone like Kingsley’s Don Logan character, who represents the real violent, mind-crushing reality of the criminal life. And it’s all about the tension the keeps growing as we realize how crazy Logan really is and what he is capable of. And yeah, while I thought Winstone did a great job in his portrayal of Gal, with a subtle, quiet anger, Kingsley stole the show. He was so unhinged and terrifyingly. Fun fact: during the shooting of the film, Kingsley would switch so suddenly to Logan that it threw off everyone and actually frightened them. One last thing on the characters and stuff, what the fuck was up with the orgy? I mean, it just seemed like such an odd moment in the film.
Dylan: Hey, I’m no J.K. Rowling, but maybe you should split that novel into chapters just so everyone has a chance to breathe between thoughts. Jesus. Anyways, as for the orgy, I was kind of confused by that whole thing. I mean, I think an orgy, in reality, is probably pretty confusing. But in the context of the scene, I liked how Logan telling Gal the story was overlaid by both Stan telling Logan, and the actual events involving Teddy taking place. Though it kind of threw me off. Even the part where Teddy makes friends with the owners of the bank and puts a pack of cigarettes in the safe deposit box. I guess that was showing how slick he is. I don’t know. In fact, in the end, I was a little annoyed that they put the heist in at all. I thought it would have been more interesting to end either before it happens or without showing it at all, since we were teased with that conclusion for an hour and half.
Mark: Yeah true, though I feel as though it only really happened for the sake of showing us/Gal what he’s not missing anymore. I’d speak more of the whole part, but then I’d be wandering into spoiler territory, and what with this movie being as relatively short as it is, it’s worth watching to see how it unfolds. Maybe it’s not a character piece, since when we get there, all the characters are established. Rather, it’s like a perfect storm really. Kingsley’s insanity and violence meeting the calm defiance of Winstone. And that is where the real core of the film is.
Dylan:Yea, that’s a good way of looking at it I think. At first we are swept away by Gal’s leisurely retirement, and then we get a glimpse of Logan, and then we get a glimpse of Teddy, and really that tells us all we need to know about who Gal is and what he comes from. I enjoyed the dinner scene as Aitch and Jackie tell Gal that Logan called; the expression on his face and how he tries to deal with the news. And that reminds me, I also liked how, despite being a short movie, the characters are all very three-dimensional. We learn of a thing between Logan and Jackie, some stuff about Gal’s wife, details that reinforce a history among the characters that we can sense even if its not thrown in our faces.
Mark: It’s all very natural how we learn about the characters. It’s through Don, someone outside of the group who doesn’t give a shit talking about dark pasts. Also, you brought up the dinner scene, and what I liked the most is that I assumed from their expressions and fear that Logan would be just this evil figure. Instead, he’s an unhinged person, which I think is so much more terrifying. He can be calm and fairly respectful and then, while having a meaningful conversation with himself, he just up and boots Gal in the face. You can’t predict what he’ll do, and that’s why he’s so awesome to watch. Also, nothing specific, but when all the tension finally comes to a head, fuck, it’s so intense, it’s a really well-done moment. Not just with the characters, but how, like with the conversation with Teddy, Logan, and Gal, it’s spliced in during the short remainder of the film.
Dylan: I actually have a question about the ending that maybe you, America's Number One Fan of Great Britain, can answer: does he get paid? There is the scene where Teddy offers him money -- a ‘tenner’ is what he says, which I took to mean 10% of the take -- but then he doesn’t give him anything and kicks him out.
Mark: Well, right off the bat, a “tenner” is ten pounds. Equivalent to a ten dollar bill. Ok, well not equivalent in this economy, but you get what I’m saying. We’d be going into spoilers if I went further, so rather, this is more reason to watch the movie to find out what the fuck happens to everyone.
Dylan: For the record, I know what pounds are. But thanks, that does explain some things. Their accents were so thick (especially Winstone’s) at times that I had to put on subtitles. I think there is definitely some stuff that gets lost in translation with this movie, even though they’re speaking English. There were things that made me laugh that maybe were supposed to be taken seriously. But anyways, do you have anything to say about the style or cinematography? I thought everything was pretty straightforward.
Mark: I didn’t put on the subtitles, but this movie gets quiet when some characters talk and then it gets wicked fucking loud, usually when Logan is on the screen. I learned to predict the volume change, but it did make it difficult at points. And besides a few kind of surreal moments, which seem out of place, it didn’t do anything all that interesting or new cinematography- or style-wise. Some long shots of the desert with the heat rising, but that’s par for the course with the setting. This movie is all about the characters; the movie itself doesn’t do anything much beyond leave us with the characters to watch them interact and react. And really, I'm absolutely fine with this because they’re all that good.
Dylan: All right, well I’ve said about all I wanted to. It reminds me of the movie The Proposition, also starring Winstone, as a character that has potential to be a badass but is sort making his best effort not to. So if you liked that movie, I think you’ll like this movie, and vice versa. But that’s all I have to say. You?
Mark: Haha, that’s actually really funny cause I was going to say the same thing: it totally reminded me of The Proposition, what with Winstone and how character-driven and tense it is. Though I’d say there’s more going on with that than in Sexy Beast. It was a good movie; not at all the British crime/noir drama I thought it was going to be, but turned out to be something very different and very good. But quick, trivia time! Fuck, that sounds so stupid. But whatever, Oscars? How many? Which ones? Go.
Dylan: Wow. It’s weird that we are watching random movies and yet they all seem to have Oscar noms. Well, hopefully something for Kingsley. Other than that, no idea.
Mark: Ding ding motherfucker, you got it. One Oscar nomination and it was Best Supporting for Kingsley. Lost, though, to Jim Broadbent. For the movie Iris.
Dylan: Ugh, I HATE that guy! ...who is that again?
Mark: Umm, he was Indy’s new friend at the college in Crystal Skull.
Dylan: Do I have to state the obvious...RAY WINSTONE WAS IN THAT TOO!
Mark: OH JESUS! LET'S JUST CHANGE THIS BLOG TO THE 'RAY WINSTONE APPRECIATION BLOG'.
Dylan: ...yes
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And we are not entirely kidding. Our next movie is Edge of Darkness, starring Mel Gibson (post-breakdowns) and Ray Winstone. I have never seen it before, but I think Mark has. Needless to say, it is another Mark Pick. And hey, Sexy Beast was a Dylan Pick! So hopefully it will satisfy. This is going to slightly break the tradition of me quoting movies in my wrap-up, but I'll do it anyway: this is a quote from Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin in the upcoming Iron Man 3. "This is the first day...of what's left of your life".
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