Sexy Beast 7/10

Sexy Beast (R) 2001
Reviewer’s Tilt (8)
Heist-89min
Special DVD Features worth a look-None

Noone ever truly appreciates what they have until events conspire to teeter it on the precipice. When all is said and done, one is either left with nothing, or a profound appreciation for that which nearly was lost. Sexy Beast is a quaint, cockney yarn of love, rage, graft and violence, transcending strict genre classification to reveal a tale of modern romance. Gal (Ray Winstone) plays a retired thief passing his days in his remote Spanish villa with his beautiful wife Deedee (Amanda Redman) Gal has grown very much in love with his wife, and, in an unusual twist of double irony, his wife is also very much in love with him. In the opening scene, a deadly boulder foreshadows the turmoil about to enter, and shatter, their earthly heaven.

After a disturbing phone call, Gal, Deedee and their close friends Aitch (Cavan Kendall) and Jackie (Julianne White) discuss the impending visit of an earthbound devil. Don (Ben Kingsley), moniker notwithstanding is not the head of a mob family. He is, however, a seriously miswired sociopath, bent on conscripting Gal for another heist. As is his wont, speak of the devil and the devil appears. Don arrives, charged with directing his “will” to find a “way” to accomplish the impossible. In this case, the impossible is convincing Gal to leave his idyllic life and wife for the proverbial “one last job.” Deedee knows that Gal no longer has the skills or the mettle for the job. Another job would mean a death sentence for Gal and everything they have built together. To even consider the opportunity would be to spit on everything they hold sacred. A mobster himself, Gal would have no trouble turning anyone else down. But Don is different.

Don is a complete void of compassion, coupled with a temper and penchant for violence. As you might imagine, this makes for rather touchy negotiation. Kingsley’s Oscar nominated performance is truly a new take on the gangster heavy. Rather than brute strength, Don’s persuasion rests with his mercurial and volatile nature. The grisliness of Don’s past atrocities remains unspoken, but stands indelibly etched on the faces of Gal, Deedee, Aitch and Jackie. Truly between Scylla and Charybdis, Gal feels the tranquility and peace of his former life quickly fading to memory. The story evolves into a tragic love story, woven with violence and explicatives, refreshing the age old expression “the things we do for love”. Although original in parts and replete with impeccable acting, the story does suffer some plot flaws and has some noticeably spartan production values. Overall, however, Sexy Beast is refreshing, engaging and worth a look.

Format: Color, Widescreen Anamorphic, Closed captioned.
Sound: (Dolby Digital 5.1), (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Extras: Kingsley and Producer Jeremy Thomas commentary, Background Featurette, trailer, trailers for other movies.