Year : 2015
Genre: Biopic
I've always found the Krays interesting, but to be honest knew relatively little about them. I’ve never seen any other film about the Krays, so I went into this one with no expectations or pre-defined ideas. It’s not very often I watch films rated 18, but I was keen to give this one a go…
The narrator is Frances, Reggie’s wife, and parts of the story are told from her point of view. She is the first and last voice you hear. The film charts their relationship from the happy days of courting through to the decline of their marriage leading to Frances’ eventual suicide. The emphasis on a relationship, rather than the work of The Firm, ‘softens’ the film somewhat and prevents it from being overly violent and graphic. There are only a handful of violent scenes, but still enough to shock. (I’m thinking of Jack ‘the hat’ Mcvitie’s death here.)
I had reservations about one actor taking on dual roles. I thought I would spend the whole time trying to spot differences in how Tom Hardy portrayed the two brothers, and that’s exactly what I did do. He plays them well, with enough distinctions for you to almost forget it’s one actor. Yet, at times, I thought he played up to the gangster image a bit too much. His portrayal of Ronnie, in particular his crazy-eyed stare, was almost a cartoonish interpretation of a typical East End gangster. But then again, perhaps that is how they actually conducted themselves. Who am I to quibble with the Krays?
I imagine a lot was omitted from this film, it covers only a snippet of their lives. After watching the film I turned to Wikipedia to see research them and recognised a fair few scenes from the film as being taken from real life. I would have liked a few more ‘gangster’ scenes and less ‘husband and wife’ scenes. Because of this I felt the film left me wanting more. I want to watch documentaries on them. I want to watch the 1990 Krays film starring the twins from Spandau Ballet. I want to read Ronnie and Reggie’s autobiographies. They have a very interesting story and I doubt this will be the last time it is depicted on film.
A good, but hardly brilliant 4 out of 5 stars.
