Reel Review #45: “You’re at the Grosvener, your name is Roundtree, like Smarties, like Shaft.” This is a fun film with great performances, especially Ben Kingsley as Don Logan. Check it out. “No, no, no, no ,no ,no !”
Download from the AOL servers: Reel Reviews – Sexy Beast (15:31 min 10.8MB)
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Man, I LOVE this movie!
The fear and imtimidation of the ben kingsly character makes the hair on the back of my head stand up.
Thats wild, I just watched this on Wednesday
What a flick!
Listened to the podcast on Friday afternoon; rented the movie and watched it Saturday night.
Powerful and haunting. The fear brought about in the minds and faces of the characters is more frightful than what is shown on screen. An amazing film all the way around; from the characters, the lighting, the framework, the dialogue and score.
There were times that I felt like I this film was made in the 60′s. Something about the shots of the automobiles on the roads; the background colors and music. Seemed familiar…
I’m interested in the “purple” shots. Once was a dream sequence with Gal and the other (that I remember) was when Teddy was walking through the bank lobby door (in fact, this scene repeats later in the film).
Maybe Teddy was in his own “dream” because he pulled off the job and was in a psychotic state before heading to the executive’s home.
Great film and hmm…what about those “bunnies”?
Todd
Just read about REEL REVIEWS in todays AOL emailer. They mention the Glengarry Glen Ross movie. Congrats, I know a Famous Podcaster! (Well I think you were famous even before you came onto TPSradio
Keep up the great work!
I was glad to hear from someone who liked this movie. I saw it in the theatre and had I not been with my girlfriend I would have walked out (later discussing the movie with her, she felt exactly the same way).
This movie is about a group of people one either cares nothing about or dispises. I am not requiring “redeeming values” in a movie, but I was hard-pressed to see the point. Perhaps adding to my displeasure with the movie was the speech of one of the characters, which was so mumbled that if anyone could understand more than half a dozen of his words in the movie then I will award a gold star. I can only hope that the DVD version allows for English subtitles.
Of course, Ben Kingsley is, as always, great (he is probably the most underappreciated actor around). He brings a true depth to the character and is perfect in the role. Unfortunately, his presence cannot save the movie any more than the great Anthony Hopkins was able to save the movie Proof.
Like I said, however, I was glad to hear from someone who did like the movie with an explanation as to why they liked it, as the appeal was completely lost on me.
Keep up the excellent reviews.
Cheers -
george
I can never look at the blue-lit pool in my backyard the same way again.
Leigh
Go with Gal, and you hold your breath for the rest of the movie. Not a roller-coaster ride…more like swim in shark-infested waters. Good times!
I’m a fan of Ray Winstone, so this is bound to be biased.
I would have liked to have watched this film without my wife being present. She has the uncanny knack of making a film you are not quite sure about early on seem like the most utter rubbish.
However, even with this film, she picked up towards the end. It isn’t a perfect film. It isn’t a comfortable film. But if pressed, anyone who has sat through it will admit that it is an intense film.
So if you like intense, watch it. Ben Kingsley is a _constant_ surprise. I feel the pacing would probably loose people’s interest early on, even though for those willing to ‘suck-it-and-see’ this section contains the best dialogue. Maybe we have been conditioned to be too action-hungry these days. A good interpretation of Shakespeare relies on plenty of action these days, even though the story is the overwhelming ‘knock-out’ factor.
Thanks for the review. I would never have picked the DVD otherwise, and feel enriched by the experience.
I enjoyed your take on “Sexy Beast,” a film I like very much. By the way, there is a homosexual subtext running beneath the film. Winstone’s nickname is Gal. Teddy is buggered by James Fox’s character. Don remarks that Jackie once tried to finger fuck him. He makes an anti-gay comment when the airline stewards approach him regarding his cigarette smoking; and he accuses them of physically molesting him. Also in the kitchen scene where Don tries to force Gal into participating in the robbery, he repeatedly thrusts his body at him while shouting the word “yes,” as if he were fucking him.
Interesting also that you mention Don pissing in Gal’s bathroom to mark his territory, in that physically and behaviorally he resembles a pit bull. Take Care.
There’s more than a homosexual subtext in the film. The rabbit is a symbol of fertility in British mythology, so you have the corrupted rabbit appear to signify there is more than ordinary criminal corruption going on.
The rabbit is the Sexy Beast. But who the sexy beast personifies keeps shifting until we understand at the end that it’s not Gal, as we thought in the beginning, or Don, but Teddy.
Its not clear that Teddy is actually being buggered by the banker – I took this to be a fantasy. But, Teddy does tell all the men, after the job, “you’re all cunts” to suggest his power over them. Dominant rabbits in nature tend to have more than one sex partner.
With Don buried at the end of the film, we see the rabbit again standing over him, suggesting that this creature is, in fact, the Devil. Its not too different from Tarantino’s angle in Pulp Fiction where he set up the ordinary-looking blokes as agents of the devil, who had to be destroyed. Except Tarantino counted on supernatural intervention, whereas Gal counts on the mettle of his friends.
Great performances all around.
Quite possibly the worst film I’ve seen ever. I was expecting a decent plot if a little cliched (London gangsers, Costa del sol etc), but it wasn’t – it was just boring, frankly wierd in parts AND cliched. Ben Kingsley ranting about was just comical but also annoying.