Legend

Hello dear reader. It would appear it’s that time again. To tell tall tales of wonder and exhilaration, to enthral you and fill your head with images of delight and elation. To set the scene and invite you read my humble blog and offer up an opinion on the latest cinematic banquet that I consumed recently. The film in question is Legend and for you of a certain age, I am not referring to the Ridley Scott, Tom Cruise, Tim Curry, Unicorn extravaganza that first saw the light of day back in good old 1985. No, I am of course about to embark on a review of the new Tom Hardy & Tom Hardy story of the Krays. One of the greatest double acts since Romeo and Juliette, Laurel and Hardy or Noddy and Big Ears. Ronnie and Reggie Kray, for those of you who were sick they day they taught ‘east end gangsters’ at school, did for clean living and upholding the law what Bernard Mathews did for promoting vegetarianism. During the sixties they were the ground zero for organised crime in London. Their presence was felt everywhere and such was their appeal that it wasn’t uncommon for celebrities of the day to frequent their clubs and casinos. They were an unstoppable force that quite simply ran an empire from the east end of London. They were courted by the American mafia, they crushed anyone that stood in their way and didn’t suffer fools gladly.

There have been films and countless documentaries about the Krays before, dramatising their rise to power and how they ruled with an iron fist but this is the first that I am aware of that tells the story from the point of view of Reggie Krays wife, Frances.  This gives a unique slant and stops it becoming a formulaic action film wrapped around a great story. It also helps show what Frances had to endure and go through and ultimately forced her to make some choices that were undoable.   

So, as always I shall start at the beginning. Legend is a film that, if you’ll pardon the pun, doesn’t pull any punches. It’s extremely violent when it needs to be and should not be viewed by those of a nervous disposition. One of the ‘confrontations’ that takes place during the film starts with Reggie stood next to a bar with about half a dozen men in front of him and then Reggie announcing to the world ‘a paranoid schizophrenic walks into a pub’. Then Ronnie walks in behind these six and pulls out two claw hammers and chaos ensues. Afterwards Ronnie and Reggie walk out of the pub. The other men involved in the fight do not. That pretty much sets the tone for the entire film. Don’t get me wrong, Legend is not what I would call gratuitous. I wouldn’t need that much convincing that everything that’s portrayed on screen actually happened. Ronnie and Reggie were ‘mommies little monsters’ and as a pair they were inseparable. Even when Reggie has to serve time at her majesties pleasure, his spirit and will is never broken. He believes that he will always overcome and triumph over anything put in front of him. And when his brother is making decisions that have consequences and impact on people they care about, his faith in his twin, at least in public, is unshakable. That said they do fight each other during the film and after what has to go down as one of the finest pieces of cgi that you’ll never notice, it ends with the realisation that despite each of their own flaws, they will always need each other to survive. 

When Tom Hardy was first approached to make this film it was originally to only play Reggie Kray, or Ronnie Kray, depending on which online source you’re prepared to believe. The long and the short of it is that the director, Brian Helgeland, apparently had someone else in mind to play the other twin. Who it was has never made the light of day but if I was a betting man I’d have a fiver on Tom Hiddleston, Damien Lewis or if you prefer your longshots, Helen Mirren.

Now, in what will go down in history as either a very brave or very unwise decision, Mr Hardy agreed to make Legend on the proviso that he played both brothers. Brian Helgeland isn’t exactly a man without a pedigree when it comes to movies. His screenplay CV includes such gems as LA Confidential, Mystic River and Man on Fire and although his directorial back catalogue isn’t quite as extensive, it does include the Heath Ledger film A Knights Tale and 2014’s bio pic about the baseball player Jackie Robinson, 42 to name but two. Having one actor play both roles would completely change the way the way was shot and easily add a couple of million onto the post production budget but Helgeland agreed. How Tom Hardy convinced him that he could pull both performances off is somewhat of a mystery. Again, depending on who you’re willing to believe, there was either a meeting that involved several bottles of scotch and a trip through the finer parts of Bethnal Green and Shoreditch, with Mr Helgeland in tow or an audition where Tom sat in a chair in the middle of an empty studio, played both parts and was ‘chilling’ as he spoke to himself. 

The latter I have absolutely no problem believing at all. Tom is very good at playing Reggie but it’s as Ronnie where he excels. For me it’s in his eyes where most of the character comes from. At times they look dead, as if there’s nothing there behind them and whatever vestiges of a soul that were once contained there have long since departed. Tom also has an unnerving ability to actually look like a completely different person playing each brother. Yes, he wears glasses and dentures for Ronnie and his hair is styled differently but whereas when Clarke Kent removes his glasses he instantly becomes recognisable as Superman, when Ronnie removes his glasses he still looks like Ronnie, not Reggie. I found the difference between Tom’s portrayal of Ronnie and Reggie remarkable at times and there were moments when I completely forget that it was one person playing both parts.  

Legend isn’t prefect perfect but I’d have to give it full marks for effort. It’s quite clear from what you see on screen, or more importantly, what you don’t see on screen that a lot of time and effort has gone into making London look like its back in the 60’s. Again it’s the computer generated images that you don’t realise you’re seeing that help there. That coupled with a great supporting cast that includes Emily Browning, an under used Christopher Eccleston, Duffy, David Thewlis, Chaz Palminteri and a blink and you’ll miss it appearance from Paul Bettany makes Legend one of the best British films to come along in a while. For the most part the narration for the film comes from Emily Browning’s, Frances and as I mentioned earlier, having the story told from her point of view makes Legend a very compelling and ultimately poignant film. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea or particular brand of vodka but if you do get the chance to watch it I would recommend you do so. Also just a quick aside here, if you have a look at the poster above, pay close attention to the Guardian review and where it’s been placed. They only gave it two stars…

Twitter Review:

Loyalty to my brother is how I measure myself.

#ICameHereForAProperShootout

Useful links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3569230/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey7S4hko_Mc

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=139205

The Wolf of Wall Street

Hello dear reader, I am pleased to announce that after the sombre and thought provoking subject matter of the last blog for 12 Years a Slave normal service has well and truly been resumed. I would like to promise you that without too much fear of contradiction the following will contain mischief, mirth and merriment, wine women and song (delete where appropriate.)

However before I start to take you through the three hour debauchery ride that is The Wolf of Wall Street I do feel I need to start with a confession. Martin Scorsese films tend to completely unfloat my boat. They normally do nothing for me. Apart from, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver I've never found his films that enjoyable. Yes that's right, I don't like Goodfellas, Casino or Gangs of New York. Now I'm completely aware that I'm probably in the minority here but that's ok, I’m quirky! 

I offer the following as evidence of my quirkiness. I seem to be the only person on the planet that thinks Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back isn’t the greatest film from the series. I genuinely don't get why people bang on about it being the best. Let me some up in a nutshell is how I'd describe Empire.

"Snow, battle, exposition, exposition, exposition, exposition, hi dad, end credits." 

It's a boring film, FACT.

But I'm getting distracted by the Dark Side here. I'll put Mr Lucas back in his box and deal with him another time and another blog. However I do have a feeling that it may take more than one to do him (and his extravagant plan to take over the world through the medium of merchandising) justice.

I should get back to why I even wanted to watch The Wolf of Wall Street in the first place. In its simplest form the reason was two words and those two words are Mathew McConaughey. From the very first teaser trailer that was released for TWOWS in the early 2013 I was hooked. It was a scene between him and Leonardo Dicaprio. In it McConaughy's Mark Hanna mentors Decaprio's Jordan Belfort on the do's and don’ts of the stock market and Wall Street.  Hanna's very own personal set of golden rules to reach the top and not look down at who you're stepping on while you do it. McConaughy is quite simply brilliant in it. His chest beating and humming mantra is worth the price of admission on its own. Unfortunately he's only on for about the first twenty minutes but he does set the tone for the rest film and if it wasn't for the presence of Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff, Belfort’s right hand man, I'm sure Mathew would currently be in contention for a best supporting actor. 

The film itself tells the tale of the aforementioned Jordan Belfort, who is basically a real life Gordon Gekko. Belfort takes Gekko’s “greed is good, greed works” philosophy and turns it up to eleven. He becomes obsessed with power and the privileges that come with it. 

In the same way that most people see computers and phones as necessary tools to do their jobs, Belfort sees drugs as giving him his competitive edge over his rivals. They become essential to his everyday life too. Uppers, downers, coke, pills & potions, there's nothing he won't do or take to help perpetuate the fantasy land he feels safe in and calls home. His attitude to money also beggars belief at times. He thinks he can buy anything. Love, women and even the FBI are all at some point found on his expansive shopping list. 

This is the ultimate story of excess. A rise and fall fable of such astonishment that you have to keep telling yourself that this actually happened. Such is the mental state of Belfort that you start to think that this is a fictional character that couldn't possibly exist in the real world but exist he does, whilst throwing up his middle fingers to those who dare to tell him no. 

There's a scene about halfway through the film set in their company boardroom, where there's a completely serious discussion about "dwarf throwing etiquette." It's not played for laughs in any way. It's held to establish what is regarded as acceptable behaviour and how to treat dwarfs when they're wearing Velcro suits and be propelling towards a large round dartboard target by drunken traders. Belfort believes he's untouchable. He surrounds himself with people he knows he can trust and that would never roll over on him. 

The fall of the Belfort Empire comes when his company Stratford-Oakmont starts drawing attention from other Wall Street companies. Their reputation starts to precede them. Stories of lavish office parties, strippers even marching bands parading through the offices starts to raise their profile from a little fish to a predatory shark. This then leads to Belfort being interviewed and featured on the front cover of Forbes Magazine with the now infamous moniker "The Wolf of Wall Street."

His stellar rise from running a twenty man operation to a company that employs over two hundred and fifty capitalist brings him to the attention of the FBI. Such is Belfort’s ego that during his initial meeting held on board his yacht with the investigating officer he offers to bribe him. When this offer is turned down by FBI Agent Patrick Denham, played by Kyle Chandler Belfort takes out a roll of bills and throws “fun vouchers” at him as he leaves. With the FBI watching everything Belfort does he has to come up with more elaborate ways to keep his money hidden. Swiss bank accounts are used and millions in cash, usually strapped to the courier’s body, are smuggled through customs from America.  This system of moving money is overseen by Belfort’s Aunt Emma, played faultlessly by Joanna Lumley. 

With the net closing in on him and his drug addiction escalating to new height’s it’s only a matter of time before he implodes and gets caught. Forced to wear a wire as part of the deal he cuts to keep his jail time to a minimum he turns snitch on his colleagues and incriminate them. 

This is an astonishing film at times. It doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to what it’s willing to show you and if you don’t like swearing then this may not be the film for you. The real Jordan Belfort makes a small cameo at the end of the film and you get the impression that he’s still really quite proud of what he did and how he did it. With the likes of Gravity and 12 Years a Slave to contend with it’s very unlikely that TWOWS will win best film or best director at the upcoming Oscars but it’s definitely worth your attention and I would happily place it in the top five films I’ve seen in the last twelve months. 

Twitter Review:

The best cast and chemicals assembled this side of a Hunter S Thompson Novel. Powerful and thought provoking.

#SellMeThisPen

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993846/?ref_=nv_sr_3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAhIg5Dy3uA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pabEtIERlic