If Only Other Gangster Films Were This Good: Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Sexy Beast’ Reviewed

Usually the idea of completing “one last job” is associated with hubris. It’s not enough to walk away with your life. The career gangster must also secure themselves a major windfall before retiring so they can live off that money for the rest of their days.

Now, maybe Gal (Ray Winstone) already had his “one last job” moment, and that’s why he’s living comfortably in Spain when we meet him at the beginning of Jonathan Glazer‘s Sexy Beast. We’re never actually given much backstory on him. It’s suggested he did some jail time, but did he go straight afterwards? Or did he go back to crime for a while, but now he’s done (and why not if he can afford to keep spending his days lounging by the pool with his wife and friends)?

The point is, when Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) invites Gal to do “one last job” with him, he’s not on the fence. If Don weren’t so incredibly dangerous, Gal wouldn’t even have to think about it. Gal’s answer is “no”, and that lack of greed (which admittedly is enabled by the fact that he’s already living well) makes him easy to root for when Don decides “no” isn’t an acceptable answer.

It’d be pointless to argue that Ben Kingsley’s performance isn’t the shining star of this movie. Seeing this Shakespearean actor — known for playing Gandhi — play the most unreasonable adult toddler ever imagined is a gift that can’t be understated. The closest I’ve seen Kingsley come to the beautiful profanity of this movie is his role on the short-lived series Perpetual Grace, LTD, which is worth digging up if you can find it. The thought of being trapped in a room with this man is terrifying. Ian McShane appears in the second half, and he’s scary, too, but they are completely different gangsters, and Kingsley’s is the kind that’s unpredictable. 

This is a film, though, that isn’t short of great performances. Kingsley has the more colorful and (frankly) gobsmacking part, but Winstone provides the perfect counterbalance, while a ferocious Amanda Redman steals the few scenes she’s in as Gal’s wife, Deedee. There are multiple reasons Sexy Beast would make a great double feature with The Long Good Friday, but one of them is how Deedee and Gal’s romance parallels the relationship between Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren in that film. Also, much in the way that The Sopranos would make the most of Tony’s dreams, Gal’s nightmares provide unexpected moments of magical realism (that and the boulder that just misses Gal like he’s in a Looney Tunes cartoon).

Second Sight’s Blu-ray might be missing a new interview with Glazer, and the female cast members only appear in archival interviews (Cavan Kendall, who played Gal’s best mate, Aitch, passed away before the film’s release in 1999), but Winstone, Kingsley and McShane all provide new interviews, and it’s interesting to learn how Kingsley’s delayed arrival on set played into the anticipation around his character’s arrival in the film. McShane (no stranger to profanity, as he would star in Deadwood four years after this movie) brings up being inspired by silent gangsters like Alain Delon in Le Samouraï for this role.

There’s a lot of appreciation for Louis Mellis and David Scinto‘s screenplay, and Leigh Singer‘s video essay gives a great breakdown of the anti-typecasting of Winstone and Kingsley and the way Don wields repetition as a weapon. There’s also a commentary by John Bleasdale, who wrote a book on Glazer (Darkness Visible), and a fantastic interview with editor Sam Sneade that speaks to the difference editing can make. In this case, Sneade had to deal with the problem of Don’s absence in the second half of the movie, and his answer to that problem is essential viewing.

Will Gal cave to the pressure, or will he stand his ground against Don? Even if gangster films aren’t your usual cup of tea, I highly recommend checking Sexy Beast out.

Sexy Beast is available on Region 2 Blu-ray and 4K starting September 28th from Second Sight. I reviewed the standard edition, but the limited edition includes an essay book and seven art cards.