The shadows of PERFORMANCE (1970) and the flash reign of the notorious Kray twins hang heavily over this tale of the violent rise of a London crook. The film opens in the present day at a swank boxing event attended by rough-hewn middle-aged men in dinner jackets, swilling champagne and laughing coarsely at private jokes. The nameless gangster (Malcolm McDowell) hears that someone named Freddie is getting out of jail, and the film flashes back to 1968, when the young gangster (Paul Bettanny) got his big break from sleek crime lord Freddie Mays (David Thewlis), the "Butcher of Mayfair." Freddie hires him on the strength of his reputation as a hard man who's good in a ...
Released:
2000
Rated:
n/a
Length:
103 mins