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Sexy Beast
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:22 pm
by Trapper
I had this movie recommended to me by a friend a couple of years ago and finally saw it last night. Has anybody else here seen it?
Ben Kingsley plays Don Logan, a character so vile and hypnotic that the only comparison I can make is with Victor the Cleaner from Nikita.
Victor was only in that movie for a few minutes, but I well remember the horror of his mere presence on the screen. It was as if once Victor stepped into the room the world consisted only of ravening madness.
In Sexy Beast, Kingsley's character steals the movie in the same way, but his character is far more nuanced. His insecurities and the contemptible way he expresses them only serve to make him even more loathsome.
One of the very best acting performances I've seen.
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:26 pm
by lucimay
yeah! i saw it. thought it was a pretty good film altogether. i liked the whole cast. kingsley was great.
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:01 pm
by Warmark
Brilliant film. Kinsley is superb.
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:21 pm
by Encryptic
I just watched it a few days ago. Mixed thoughts about it...
Kingsley is great, of course, but I feel like I missed the point of the movie. Seems like it was more about Don being a complete asshole than anything else.
As such, the beginning (before Don shows up) and the end (after Don gets killed at Gal's house and Gal goes to do the job in London) kind of left me feeling like "OK, was there supposed to be more to this?" Teddy knows Gal's lying about Don, but he doesn't care, so Gal's life goes back to normal after the job's over. I guess I was expecting him to get killed at the end or something.
Not to mention, what was the point of Teddy shooting (can't remember his name) the guy whose house they showed up at at 5 AM?
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:49 pm
by Trapper
Encryptic wrote:I just watched it a few days ago. Mixed thoughts about it...
Kingsley is great, of course, but I feel like I missed the point of the movie. Seems like it was more about Don being a complete asshole than anything else.
Teddy knows Gal's lying about Don, but he doesn't care, so Gal's life goes back to normal after the job's over. I guess I was expecting him to get killed at the end or something.
Not to mention, what was the point of Teddy shooting (can't remember his name) the guy whose house they showed up at at 5 AM?
I kinda see where you're coming from, but I thought the point of the movie was that so-called "hard-men" are indeed assholes and that they can tire of it and grow out of it (if they're not just flat-out insane like Don).
So that's what I thought was intriguing about Teddy shooting the banker in the end. Teddy is basically making a point to Gal that he is still "well 'ard" and not to be messed with. But he's also admitting, by letting Gal live, that all the false cameraderie and bravado of the criminal lifestyle (as shown in the somewhat desperate reunions and post-job celebrations) has ultimately left him unfulfilled and questioning his own life.
Ten years before Teddy would have killed Gal for sure, on principle.
The fact that the robbery almost feels tacked-on to the story only highlights the fact that Teddy was merely trying to reclaim the adrenaline-rushes of his younger years. He only wanted to rob the bank "because it was there".
Teddy shot the banker in a world-weary and cynical attempt to validate his former life. He let Gal live because he realised that former life was essentially pointless and that Gal had moved on more than he had himself.
In such a time of self-realisation/contempt Teddy couldn't bring himself to care that a (previously useful) nutjob like Don had been killed.
At least that's how I saw it.
I think it's telling that Gal does not really change during the movie, but is much more likeable at the end than the beginning.
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:41 pm
by Encryptic
Hmmm....
That's an interesting look at it and one that evidently sailed way over my head when I watched the movie.
