Gangster No. 1 (2000)

Simply Perfect

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Gangster No. 1 shows a completely different style of film in terms of the Gangster sub-genre. It's more about the unfulfilled psychotic man who wants it all st every cost. A great performance from Paul Bethany and a great cast filled with British Drama actors (with an obligatory role for Jamie foreman). I'm slightly confused as to why all other characters remained the same and made up in older age, whilst Paul Bethany turns into Malcolm McDowell, perhaps that's a more symbolic gesture.

Paul Mcguigan's Gangster No. 1 is a vicious, savage London crime jaunt that's not for the faint of heart. It rests somewhere between the sassy, hyperactive world of Guy Ritchie, and the moody, paced films of Mike Hodges. It's combines a stylistically nasty, violent aesthetic with snappy, deliberately off kilter dialogue and deadly, serious performances that makes for a film that leaves a stark imprint in both our minds, and the British crime genre. Paul Bettany plays an icy, wickedly ambitious sociopath known only as 55, a fledgling hood who draws the attention of top tier London gangster Freddie Mays (David Thewlis), in the pool halls of east London. Mays takes him under his wing, and before you know it, 55 is his top lieutenant, utilizing his terrifyingly violent, morally blank skill set to advance Mays's criminal empire. He sets his cold gaze higher than that though, and eventually becomes a manipulating devil, moving the chess pieces on both sides to feed his sickening greed and hunger for power. When Mays becomes love struck by stunning lounge singer Karen (radiant Saffron Burrows), 55 sees this as weakness, and the perfect opportunity to strike. Bettany is a clammy, cloying, coiled viper in the role. He uses his silky voice and piercingly unsettling gaze to great effect as the ultimate psycho, and the guy you just don't want as either your friend or your enemy. Malcolm McDowell plays the older version of 55, and is sensational. He shows us a fermented, bitter side of the same coin we see with Bettany, all snarling unpleasantness and pure evil. The two performances alongside each other are just wonderful, and some of my favourite of the crime genre. Thewlis is dapper and slightly more likable, playing a guy who's weary of the game and is looking for any excuse to exit stage right. Burrows provides that intoxicating opportunity. Jamie Forman is loopy fun as an eccentric rival gangster to Mays and 55, and Eddie Marsan is great support as well. This is a British crime thriller with bite, brilliance, and a steadfast desire not to look away from the nastiness that happens behind closed doors and down dark alleys. It's this committed urge to show the violence,

I thought Gran Torino was the worst film I'd ever seen based on awful acting, hilarious dialog and as a vehicle for a has been, but this film makes Gran Torino look like Ghandi. You know you are watching a bomb when you are laughing at a film that's not meant to be a comedy, as was the case with Gran Torino, but when you stop laughing and have the urge to cry, then you are watching Gangster No. 1. Malcolm McDowell has to be the worst actor that ever walked the earth. I would advise anyone who values a good script, a good screenplay, and most of all decent acting, to avoid this film like they would avoid a particularly noxious disease. I never thought I would see a film that makes Gran Torino look good, I've found it!

I have now watched all of Paul McGuigan's films and love every single one of them. he's really gone up in my ratings as one of the best directors around at the moment. other classics he's made are Lucky Number Slevin, Wicker Park and Push. its the style he puts into his films that really win me over. the sets look really rich and marvellous. i hope he keeps up his amazing directing techniques. in this film he centres on the gangster world in the 1960's england, and pulls it off brilliantly. the film is slightly surreal with the odd camera shots and dark atmospheric acting. Paul Bettany gives an exceptional performance as a ruthless psycho of a gangster that will do anything to reign supreme on the gangster family. another cool thing about this film is that you never find out what his characters name is. Malcolm McDowell also gives a magnetic performance as the older version of Paul Bettany's character many years later. David Thewlis and Saffron Burrows give good support in this classic gangster masterpiece. the film is very original for its intense and very violent scenes that will shock any audience that watch it. the tracking shots and music really go well with this film. there really isn't a problem i can say with this, maybe the film should be on for a little longer because of the shortness of it due to so many other gangster classics surpassing the 2 hour mark.all in all this film is brilliant. Paul McGuigan is a hero director that has really won me over. he's a genius. if you love this then check out his other films.......... 10/10.........j.d Seaton