Thursday, June 12, 2008

Sexy Beast

Yeah, I know, this sounds like a movie I shouldn't even be watching. But trust me, the title is ironic. I had never even heard of this movie, but Blockbuster "recommended" it to me. Initially I was puzzled because the title suggests something very different than what this movie is: an organized crime drama.

Trailers for this film were a little hard to come across (I found three homemade ones), but here's the best one (warning: the voice over is lame... and there's plenty of foul language):


So I hope that gives you an idea of what the movie was about. Although I read the movie's description before I rented it, I didn't watch a preview and I'm glad because everything--everything--was fresh and more powerful (whoops, guess I should've warned you about that before I put the trailer up there). During the first 20 minutes of this movie, I thought to myself, "Oh no, another movie about a guy that doesn't want to come out of retirement to do a job but gets sucked in." But it wasn't. Most of the movie--as the trailer made evident--is about the resistance. And I can't go any further without saying that the acting in this film is outstanding. Ben Kingsly is simply amazing. You know how people say that Mark Whalberg did a good job in The Departed? Yeah, he wishes he could hold a candle to BK in this film. I didn't have a whole lot of faith in BK after You Kill Me--which I actually stopped because it was so boring--but he is unbelievably impressive in this film (IMDB just informed me that it was an Oscar-nominated performance). I was also impressed with Ray Winstone since he hasn't really had a lead role in any film (Beowulf doesn't count).

The film is one part Guy Ritchie, one part Coen Brothers (a few small parts reminded me of Raising Arizona), and the rest is a film of its own. Sometimes the plot is a little hard to follow due to the director's cinematic effects and the thick English accents, but my confusion only lasted for a few seconds. This movie is riddled with tension throughout and the times of inaction are still intense because BK's character is so unpredictable (similar to Brad Pitt in Jesse James..., only more so because BK is about seventeen times crazier).

Final Grade: B+/A-
Blurb: This movie is what The Bank Job should've been. Rent this if you enjoy Guy Ritchie films, stories about organized crime, or an appreciation for great acting... but don't take my word for it... and don't rent The Bank Job unless you want to be bored for 2 hours.

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