"'Beast' of Burden"
by Scott Mantz

"Sexy Beast"
Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley
Directed by Jonathan Glazer

Not-so-good fellas! Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley are married to the mob in "Sexy Beast"

Have you ever wondered why you don't see too many movies about gangsters in retirement? That's because there aren't any! After all, how could there be? If there's anything that we've learned after decades of mob movies, it's that whenever you try to get out, they keep pulling you back in. Ray Winstone learns that same lesson the hard way in Jonathan Glazer's edgy, stylish, ultra-intense, and completely engrossing noir thriller "Sexy Beast," a film that easily stands alongside "The Godfather," "Goodfellas," "Get Carter," and "Pulp Fiction" as one of the best modern mob movies ever made.

After years of being one of the wiseguys in the British underworld, Gal Dove (Ray Winstone) is now retired and spends his time drinking and eating like a pig while baking himself to perfection under the sizzling sun of his palatial Spanish seaside estate. He's seen it all, and nothing phases him--not even his near-death experience when a rogue boulder narrowly misses his head and ends up in the deep end of his pool. Indeed, he's cool as can be, but when Don Logan (Ben Kingsley), his former crime boss, comes a-calling to make him an offer he can't refuse, he's suddenly quaking in his sandals. Gal is determined to turn down Don's offer no matter how persistent he is, but he learns the hard way that Don is one of those people who just won't take "no" for an answer.

Anytime a former music video director takes his first stab at a feature film, he runs the risk of over-doing it with too much hyper-kinetic editing and too many fancy camera techniques. Fortunately, that's not the case here. There's no doubt that director Jonathan Glazer was influenced by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Danny Boyle, but "Sexy Beast" has a look and style that's all it's own. It's engrossing without being overpowering, it's stylish without being pretentious, and it redefines the crime drama just as much as it pays homage to it.

Without a doubt, the highlight of "Sexy Beast" is Ben Kingsley's spectacular performance as Don Logan. Two decades after he won critical accolades for his portrayal of the saintlike Ghandi, he goes pretty far in the opposite direction by playing a person who's so crazy and unpredictable that he just may be the devil himself. The moment he appears on the screen, you just want to stay the heck out of his way. There's no telling what he's capable of, and he makes Joe Pesci's character from "Goodfellas" seem like Mother Theresa by comparison.

Ray Winstone is just as effective as Gal Dove, but in a completely different way. He clearly enjoys living high on the hog, but Kingsley is quick to point out that if he thinks he can just reap the rewards of his old life without suffering the consequences, then he's got another thing coming to him. You can feel Winstone's desperation as he does everything within his power to respectfully turn down Kingsley's proposal, and considering that you can't help but root for him, that makes him one of the most unusual on-screen heroes since James Gandolfini first started busting heads on TV's "The Sopranos."

There's no doubt that "Sexy Beast" is what Guy Ritchie was shooting for when he made both "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch," but the fact is, he doesn't even come close. Instead of ending up as just another long-form music video, "Beast" relies on good old fashioned intensity while still being able to take advantage of the bravura filmmaking that defines the new era. It also features what has to be one of the most incredible bank heists in recent memory, even if it does bring to mind--of all things--Woody Allen's break-in from last year's "Small Time Crooks."

Ultimately, "Sexy Beast" has the distinction of being both the hottest and the coolest movie of the year, and you just have to see it. I won't take "no" for an answer!

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