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LEGEND (2015) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

LEGEND (2015) movie

Genre | Crime Drama

Classification | MA 15+

Running time | 132 minutes

Released | 15 October 2015

cast

Tom Hardy ... Reggie Kray / Ron Kray
Christopher Eccleston ... Nipper Read
Emily Browning ... Frances Shea
Colin Morgan ... Frank Shea
Taron Egerton ... Mad Teddy Smith
David Thewlis ... Leslie Payne
Chazz Palminteri ... Angelo Bruno

director

Brian Helgeland

writer

Brian Helgeland ... (written by)

John Pearson ... (book)

cinematographer

Dick Pope

music

Carter Burwell

film editor

Peter McNulty

box office result

Worldwide $42,972,994

Australia $1,359,027

North America $1,872,994

the best dialogue

Frances Shea: London in the 1960s. Everyone had a story about the Krays. You could walk into any pub to hear a lie or two about them. But I was there and Im not careless with the truth. They were brothers, but bound by more than blood. They were twins as well, counterparts. Gangster princes of the city they meant to conquer. Ron Kray was a one-man London mob. Bloodthirsty, illogical, and funny as well. My Reggie was different. Once in a lifetime do you find a street-fighting man like Reg. Believe me when I say it took a lot of love for me to hate him the way I do.

Ronald Kray: [to Frances] Sometimes to achieve greatness, you do, you have to cut off a little piece of yourself no matter how much it hurts, in order to grow, in order to move on. It takes courage and I admire that, you know?

Angelo Bruno: In our line of work, it's not good to be famous. Anonymous is the goal.

LEGEND (2015) MOVIE IMAGES

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LEGEND (2015) STORY SYNOPSIS

Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray (Tom Hardy) and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

LEGEND (2015) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty | Review date 14 October 2015
Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐½

LEGEND is not an especially likeable film and has generated interest mainly because of the dual role performed by English actor Tom Hardy as the twin 1960s London gangsters, Ronnie and Reg Kray. Every now and then, these two criminals become the subject of popular culture attention (especially in England) and fifty-odd years on award-winning movie-maker Brian Helgeland (writer of such great films as L.A. CONFIDENTIAL & MYSTIC RIVER) has turned his attention to their exploits. The result is mixed affair, with a preponderance toward extreme violence, the coarsest-of-coarse language and an almost comic book-like visual style that diminishes the film’s dramatic impact.

The central problem of LEGEND is its narrative device. The movie is narrated by Reg Kray’s wife Frances Shea (Australia’s Emily Browning) who, from the opening moments of the film, makes it clear that this story will not end well for anyone involved. It’s a serious misjudgement on Helgeland’s part (adapting John Pearson’s book THE PROFESSION OF VIOLENCE) to frame the narrative in this fashion, as Frances becomes an omnipotent observer to the twins story; commenting on events that she was not involved in and could have no knowledge of. The reason for this becomes apparent later in the film, but the explanation the viewer needs to infer makes little sense and sees the final part of the film play out in a much more traditional fashion, as the twins take their mayhem a bridge too far but is at odds with what the viewer has been asked to accept for the majority of LEGEND’s running time.

Helgeland and experienced Cinematographer Dick Pope make some very interesting visual choices for LEGEND, opting for a look that emulates Guy Ritchie’s SHERLOCK HOLMES films. In some sections, the approach works extremely well, as the film conveys the larger-than-life Kray twins whose skullduggery played against the backdrop of swinging 1960s London. However, the film’s more intimate moments seem less convincing when this approach is employed and, in many scenes, the choice is made to revert to a more traditional visual framing. The result is a movie that chops and changes its look many times throughout its 131 minutes; somewhat echoing the schizophrenic nature of its two main characters.

In terms of performances, LEGEND is well and truly anchored by Tom Hardy as the Kray twins, but at times he looks as though he’s doing an impression rather than inhabiting a character. His take on Ron Kray is so extreme that the character’s obvious mental health issues become a very dark form of unintended comic relief. (His laser-like stare is but one of many traits that had the audience audibly scoffing.) Hardy tries to make Reg Kray more grounded and it’s this side of the dual-performance that works the best. When Hardy acts with Emily Browning, LEGEND is at its best. Browning plays well off Hardy and the story of their stormy domestic relationship is where Helgeland should have focussed the film more than what he does.

The supporting players don’t fare particularly well given the talent on hand. David Thewlis, as the Kray’s financial adviser Leslie Payne, spends a lot of screen time yelling and fighting with Tom Hardy’s Ron Kray, but given the number of scenes he appears in, lacks any real punch. Likewise for Christopher Eccleston as police detective Nipper Read. Eccleston’s performance actually seems well-matched to the film’s visuals, as he overacts his determination to bring the twins to justice no matter how far he infringes upon their presumed civil liberties. Taron Egerton delivers the film’s other best supporting performance as Ron Kray’s boyfriend, Mad Teddy Smith. Egerton’s performance gets in under the viewer’s skin, and he’s annoying as all hell, but his off-kilter behaviour is perfectly matched to Hardy’s take on Ron Kray’s own insanity.

LEGEND has a number of problems ranging from story structure right the way through to its visual style. The performances vary and the trick of seeing Tom Hardy playing the Kray twins is not enough to carry a film of this length. Brian Helgeland has written some wonderful movies, but he is not as experienced in directing films and this shows through in his new film. LEGEND never quite finds the right tone, nor does its story crystalize around a narrative, theme or plot that pays off for the viewer. The film feels more like a series of events stitched together into a screenplay about people who have little to no redeeming virtues. Not really the stuff that legends are made of.