Jonathon Glazer’s SEXY BEAST 2000*

**Note: The movie was not aired anywhere until January 2001, so if this movie is dated by the time of its release, it is really 2001.


This appears to be one of those movies that inspired my friend Stephen_ Murray to say once of another movie, that it is one of those “polarizing movies”. Because it would appear that there is little middle ground in judging SEXY BEAST. Either you love it or you don’t. I liked it a lot. My mother, granniemose detested it My daughter recommended it to me one day- and I reluctantly saw the movie. I anticipated a sleek romance of some sort, with a dashing young British actor strutting his stuff, and women falling like flies in front of him. Imagine my surprise when I found the entire cast to be over 50, and the Bad guy being cast with Ben Kingsley, of all people!

The premise of Ghandi as a gangster was enough to draw me in. But it is the combined performances of the entire cast that kept me watching this flick. I found I was immediately sympathetic to those other characters, hoping for their happiness, and suitably terrified of the wholly believable sociopathic character that Kingsley portrays.


My only real objection to this film generally is the frequent use of the F-word- as a verb, noun and , adjective. While most of the time it doesn’t bother me, it could be genuinely offensive to many in the audience .There are also some scenes with some pretty graphic violence.

DIRECTION

This is the first feature length film for British director Jonathon Glazer. He has been highly respected for his music videos of rock bands and musical artists in the UK and for some outstanding commercial work as well. One could have expected a slick polished piece of work, with little soul. But not so. This was a brilliantly directed, beautifully filmed and well constructed little film, without the benefit of a single trendy big screen face. The cast was outstanding, and the performances were so well coordinated and portrayed that it was believable on every level.

The screen play was contributed by two first time writers as well, Louis Mellis and David Seinto. Although a heist is not in itself new, no is a movie about gangsters, this story offers a sightly different perspective. What if the young gangsters lived to get middle aged? And what if they find a way our of the life of being a criminal? And what happens to the angry young killers, if they manage to survive? Let me give you a hint. They have not been in years of psychotherapy with Billy Crystal. I thought the movie was well written, and dynamic. The language is probably right on the money for authentic, although it is not to my personal liking.

The story is a “simple” one, although it has some surprises, and the motivation of the players is understood, for the most part. The characters take on a remarkable amount of depth, despite having only 88 minutes to show themselves to the audience. The revelations come in tiny statements, images and scenes shown in passing, all building each of these characters into someone you can understand, and even like a little. And no one is completely who you think they are, and everyone has a secret or two.

What borders on amazing is how an incredibly tense the whole deal becomes starting out at zero stress level. On the basis of the first 5 minutes of the film, I would not have guessed I would still be watching attentively 30 minutes later. It was all carefully built by the art of the film maker. And for my part, it was completely unexpected .I really enjoyed it.

OTHER FILM ELEMENTS

The CINEMATOGRAPHY was accomplished by newcomer Ivan Bird, and it is a nicely done camera work, with some interesting shots, that made me believe it was an experienced cinematographer behind the lens. I was struck by one receding zoom in the opening scenes, where the camera pulls away from the reclining figure of Gal, by the pool. The one shot brings in to focus the man, the warm sun, his satisfaction in the scene, and as the camera pulls farther away , we see the pool with the two hearts in tile at the bottom. That says a lot about this character, even without the dialog.

The MUSIC was a mixture of work by a Spanish composer Roque Banos for the more lyrical first half, and more cheap tawdry gangster- specific stuff in the second half, by two English guys, Daniel Bangalter and Jean Joseph Kluger. I thought the music did does what it is supposed to do -reflect the action and enhance and anticipate the emotional tenor of the flick. It changes rapidly from lyrical to edgy. An example of the music taking on a scene occurs when Don Logan (Kingsley) arrives at the airport. He is just walking across the lobby, his face impassive. But the image, created by the music and the previous dialog already built the monster for us. All Kingsley had to do was be there.

HUMOR

I don’t think it is the kind of humor that can be appreciated unless you like comedy with a very dark side. It is subtle, perhaps, at first, but it is with an ironic eye that the scenes are set by Glazer. For example, in one scene a character describes a wild orgy. When the camera flashes to the scene, we see the most tedious scene imaginable, with a lot of people who look utterly bored.

There is humor in the scenes where the director warns of the coming threat to the little group in Spain, by giving us scenes that will be replicated in terms of the real danger. The appearance of the hairy monster, the parody of the hare seen earlier, is funny, and the final appearance of the beast in both of its manifestations made me laugh so hard someone had to slap me to stop.

THE (Bare Bones) PLOT

Note: Let me just set this up, and you can learn more in the cast and performance section, if you care to go there.

The time is the present. The hot sun beats down on Gal, a British man in his mid forties, living on the coast of Spain, with his wife Deedee. His close friends Aitch and Jackie, about the same age, Also live close by. A local kid , Enrique, helps him care for his villa. The friends are long term buddies, the man is happy, and has no desire to return “home” to the hustle and bustle of the UK. The movie starts with him thinking happy thoughts, baking in the sun next to his pool.

A fluke accident occurs, as a boulder crashes down from the hillside, narrowly missing Gal. and lands in his pool, destroying the bottom of it. It will have to be retiled. No worries. We see a pattern of two intertwined hearts ion the tile work.

This idyllic life is about to be disrupted by an “old friend”, or rather an old business associate. Our friend Gal is a used- to- be thug, and a guy is looking for him to help in a heist “back home”. When the group hears this, the fear on their faces anticipates a very bad dude indeed. That guy is Don Logan. Gal is determined to say “no” , but everyone expects there to be trouble. No is not an easy answer for someone like Logan to accept. After this, folks, comes the fast- paced, beautifully edited and performed -rest of the movie. The story has really only just begun.



THE DVD

The DVD is nothing special. I enjoyed the commentary, although it hardly answers the questions I might have for the director. The track commentary features the producer Jeremy Thomas and Ben Kingsley, but there are no great insights offered, except that when Kingsley arrived on the set in Spain, the others had already established a working friendship. He came in as the outsider, and could stay in character without a lot of effort. It is a phenomenon that Orson Wells discusses as he talks about his part in the movie the THIRD MAN. There is a brief featurette about the movie and not much else. I guess you can read the captions in Spanish is you so desire,



CAST CHARACTERS AND PERFORMANCES


Ray Winstone as Gal-Gal is a character that you like from the beginning. In fact EVERYBODY likes him, and some people in this movie actually love him, a fact that is mentioned more than once. The character had spent 9 years in prison taking the fall for some job, and at his first opportunity escaped to a sunny climate, on the Coast of Spain. He wants no part of the life he has left behind, although it seems he was good at his job. My first thought was -he was needed as a heavy or a hit man. Wanting him for a heist? Was he a safe cracker, a demolitions man, or could he just hold his breath longer underwater? I’ll take door number 3.

Winstone deserves more credit than he has received for this movie. His role was understated, and his anxiety at what happens is enormous, yet you never hear a complaint about “whose fault” this is. There are some sweet love scenes, something the actor says he never before participated in, by always playing the thug or the brawler. Here he is a man driven by love. But shown with enough intelligence and common sense to survive. You couldn’t ask for a more sympathetic character. Most of his emotional responses are shown in subtle facial expressions, and very little dialog really. However, when he speaks it means something. Having last seen Winstone as Michael Caine’s foster son in LAST ORDERS, to me, this actor just gets more and more impressive. He really was a boxing champion before show biz. He gained 30 kilos to play this role.


Ben Kingsley as Don Logan-The Beast, Don Logan(sexy because he has the hots for one of the characters in this story. ) This is a chilling performance , worthy of the Oscar nomination. The guy is a punk grown up, deadly because he has absolutely no social skills, is capable of killing someone, and has a problem with impulse control. This is the organization man for a gang, and he wants Gal to do a job with him. But that isn’t the reason he comes to Spain. His only redeeming feature (and this is marginal) is that he is in love with a woman he had sex with a few months back, and wants to pick it up again. He is the world’s angriest man, who states on two separate occasions that he loves Gal, and he loves Jackie. But his anger is the predominant emotional trait, combined with a hair trigger temper. He was funny as well. His scene on the airplane, where he refuses to put out his cigarette out and gets thrown off the plane is hilarious. He cleverly talks his way out of this difficulty. And then visits his rage on someone else.

Kingsley, whose real name is Krishna Bhanji, is best known for his role in GHANDI. But he has done such a fantastic job with any role he was given, that you have to admire his talent. He claims that he based this character on his grandmother. Now that is a terrifying thought.



Ian McShane as Teddy Bass-This character is the guy that Don Logan answered to., and as deadly a character as the BEAST. The only difference is that the guy has some control over his actions, and although he wouldn’t hesitate to kill, he doesn’t do it because, well, he didn’t feel like it. The scenes with this character in the second half are harrowing as Gal tries to keep him from guessing his secret, and every moment you see him in potential danger-from this guy.

There is one interesting scene, where Teddy is meeting the CEO whose company will be the target of the Heist, and who will cooperate with the deal. They are at an orgy. They are both ineffably bored with whatever else was happening in the room. When Teddy sees the possibility of a big heist he is shown in the throws of ecstasy. I think that was just to show what turned him on...and it wasn’t man/woman sex! This is another great performance . Rarely can I remember a scarier and less predictable villain,except for Kingsley of course.

Amanda Redman as Deedee-The wife of Gal, who is devoted to her husband. They have no children, they only have each other. She is the only one who responds with anger to this gangster who invades their home, and doesn’t seem to cringe in fear. She has a secret, which Don will tell all about, and the hatred blazes from her bright blue eyes. This actress has done mostly TV in the UK, but very impressive in this performance.

Cavan Kendall as Aitch-This is Gal’s best buddy, who retired with him in Spain. He too must have been a gangster, but he was definitely a follower and not a leader. He is always trying to smooth over a situation, and is helplessly trying to keep from making Logan angry. He doesn’t know why Logan hates him, or that his wife (or girlfriend) had known Don previously. When not being threatened, he is fummy using, telling tall tales for the amusement of his friends, like Eliza Doolittle's father in My FAIR LADY. This is a dapper sort of weak character and a good complement for Gal. This actor must have been more a stage and television performer, and sadly, he died 4 months before the film was released, and never saw it on screen.

Julianne White as Jackie-Jackie is with Aitch, and presumably a friend of Deedee’s, A well preserved and elegantly figured blonde, she is the real reason that Logan comes to town. He calls Jackie with a message for Gal, then follows the message. Where he wants her to love him. It is obvious that she hasn’t got a spark of regard for him. Her face, when they meet for dinner after Logan has called is the very essence of dread and fear combined. This is another well known TV actress, with some years behind the effort. The face tells the tale.

Alvaro Monje as Enrique-This is the pool boy, (Spanish local actor) who Gal has a little fun with, almost as an adopted son. He has a sort of fresh innocent humor that this film needed. He is clever and loyal, and seems a natural in this part. He has definitely got a future in film. Time will tell.

James Fox as Harry-this is the CEO who provides the vault for the gang’s robbery. With the meeting that occurs at the end of the movie, there is no question of his complicity in the heist.
This is an actor who portrays snooty snobbery to the max, a class act all the way.



There are other lesser characters, but these are the ones you will remember.


FINAL RECOMMENDATION

I really enjoyed this movie. And I think I told you why. It was funny, endearing, and nail biting all at the same time. I even liked the weird dream sequences, and I loved the last shot of the movie. For a dissenting opinion, Check this out, by Stephen_ Murray

http://www.epinions.com/content_31814160004#ow