Attack of the Anti-Gandhi?

A recent tabloid article mentioned that Ben Kingsley had stopped going out for beers because of rowdies greeting him with, "Hey, Gandhi, how's it going!" Maybe Sexy Beast was Kingsley's ultimate anti-Gandhi statement, and he definitely makes his point.

Not that the film revolves around Kingsley or his neandertal Don Logan. There's an excellent performance by Ian Mc Shane as British Mob boss Teddy "Black Magic" Bass, great work by star Ray Winstone (Gal), and tremendous support work by Julianne White (Jackie), Cavan Kendall (Aitch), Amanda Redman (Deedee) and Alvaro Monje (Enrique). This dark satire by Jonathan Glazer is reminiscent of a rollercoaster ride that clenches your guts at every unexpected turn but lets you off with a chuckle and smile over a great movie experience.

Gal has sacrificed eight years of his life for the British Mob, and his dream retirement is spent in Spain with his true love Jackie, best pals Aitch and Deedee, and boy Friday Enrique. Only the past is thrust upon him with manic force when underworld wizard Bass hires psycho Don Logan to recruit a team of master burglars for a multimillion-pound heist. Gal, his woman and friends are tossed into a pit of tumult as Logan tries to force him out of retirement. A war of nerves breaks into violence in the face of Bass' all-or-nothing scheme. Gal learns some bitter lessons about the Mob in standing by his principles against overwhelming odds.

Bass' effect on the movie is subtle but indelible. We see how Logan's sociopathic behavior is nullified in his obseqious attitude towards his overlords. We watch the brilliant scheming of 'Black Magic' as he deviously twists a happenstance meeting with a senior bank exec at a pleasure spa into a major risk enterprise, using Logan and his men as pawns. Bass has little problem thrusting straight for the heart of Gal's dilemma, and the confrontation between them is the climax of this racing piece.

Maybe it's Mc Shane's ability to outstare a vintage Al Pacino under the table. His wincing glares at Gal are the faces of death, his evil-eyed stare worth a thousand words. We haven't see him in a major contender as yet, and his presence in a future crime blockbuster could result in the biggest gangland flick since Goodfellas. He's got the look, and if you're a crime film buff it'll be worth the DVD price to check him out.

Oh, yeah, there's also Kingsley. His Don Logan maniac is the best we've seen since Max Cady in Cape Fear. In an interview short on the DVD version, Kingsley is heard referring Logan to "that monster I created". He certainly did, and it's just hard to imagining Logan in the same set of Gandhi or his Issak Stern in Schindler's List. Kingsley just might be the new Hollywood tough guy for 2002, living proof there's two sides to every character.

For you punk fans, big score with the opening song, the Stranglers' "Peaches" from their '77 album. They had me hooked from scene one and they might get you, too. So get it first.