Back in 1990, Peter Medak, Directed a film called 'The Krays' about the life and times of notorious London crime brothers Ronnie & Reggie Kray starring real life brothers Gary & Martin Kemp (aka half of the hugely successful Brit Band of the 80's Spandau Ballet). I loved that film and saw it more times that I can remember. It also starred Billie Whitelaw, Tom Bell and Steven Berkoff and it picked up a handful of award wins and nominations too. Now 25 years later, and that story has been resurrected again for the big screen in the shape of 'LEGEND' which I saw over the weekend, and this time by Director and Screenwriter Brian Helgeland and based on the 1972 book by John Pearson 'The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins'. The film was made for US$25M and so far has made $28M having been released in the UK in early September with its US release not until late November. 
The story of the Kray Brothers is steeped in British folklore and their criminal exploits in the 1960's East End of London is indeed the stuff of legend. This film brings together both Tom Hardy and Tom Hardy in the lead roles of Ronnie and Reggie Kray respectively and charts their rise as gangland kingpins of organised crime in their native East End. Tom Hardy is clearly the star of this show playing the two characters at once and sharing plenty of screen time together in what is a seamless and faultless delivery. After the first few minutes you'll forget you're watching the same actor portraying two different characters as you sink into the film and get carried along by their duelling personalities, emotional turmoil and increasing violence as the brothers establish themselves and made their mark on the criminal underworld.
Their violent profiteering is well depicted here as they conducted their business through their gang, The Firm, and commit acts of arson, racketeering, assault, armed robbery, and murder which ultimately led to their arrest in 1969 and life imprisonment at the hands of Detective Superintendent Leonard 'Nipper' Read (Christopher Ecclestone). He dutifully remains on the case over the years watching, waiting but despite all of their crimes seems unable to clinch them until murder is committed by them both on separate occasions in rooms full of eye-witnesses who in the end are prepared to give evidence despite the threats against them and their loved ones.
Along the way we see Reggie's blossoming romance with Frances Shea (Emily Browning), the girl next door almost and down the street whose brother Frank Shea (Colin Morgan) is a driver for the brothers. As their relationship grows so Frances learns more of Reggie's criminal activities and tries to distance herself from his gangster dealings but her love for him keeps her coming back. They marry in a church in Bethnal Green in 1965 against the wishes of her mother (Tara Fitzgerald) but Frances has become accustomed to the lifestyle that her nightclub and casino owning husband and his brother have built, and the celebrity status that has grown around them. Reggie however, keeps spinning a yarn that he can change, that they can live 'above board' and that he's not a gangster but a nightclub owner. She can only take so much and so over the following years as the two grow apart she becomes more reliant on drugs to escape from his criminal activities. She is also under the constant gaze of a disapproving Ronnie and mother Violet (Jane Wood) which she finds unsettling & disturbing whilst playing second fiddle to their dear Reggie - no girl would ever be good enough!
The relationship between the two is also explored here, and the ties that bound them so closely together that made them a force to be reckoned with . . . for all the wrong reasons. Blood is thicker than water, even as Reggie sought to rein in the psychotic inclinations of his twin brother Ronnie, and even as the two clash on several occasions as Ronnie's unhinged often erratic and unpredictable behaviour threatens their livelihood, their quasi-celebrity status, his marriage to Frances, the fabric of The Firm, and police scrutiny. All of this is interwoven with Ronnie's homosexuality that is laid bare here in this film and which caused a scandal back in the day that had ramifications on the highest echelons of political office.
On the periphery of all of this sits Lesley Payne (David Thewlis) as the book-keeper, accountant and financial advisor to the brothers and The Firm and who has the trust and respect of Reggie, but not so of Ronnie who has a deep mis-trust of the man and whom he believes knows too much. It is this mis-trust that ultimately causes the undoing of the Krays that led to their arrest in 1969 and life imprisonment. There is also Edward 'Mad Teddy' Smith (Taron Egerton) a psychopathic gay that seemed always by Ronnie's side and doubtless a lover on many occasions. Paul Bettany also stars as Charlie Richardson the leader of the South London Gang known at the Torture Gang who grew up with the Krays but by the 60's had become fierce rivals - he was arrested in mid 1966 - the day England won The World Cup. Chazz Palminteri stars at Angelo Bruno the head of a Philadelphia crime family who strikes up a relationship with the Krays and becomes a business associate through the nightclub and casino ventures which brings in greater wealth to the Krays and allows the Americans to get in on the London action - a fruitful arrangement that Reggie embraces but Ronnie is once again suspicious and untrusting of.
We learn in the final analysis that Ronnie is arrested and convicted for the murder of George Cornell (one of the Torture Gang) at the Blind Beggar Pub in Whitechapel in March 1966, and Reggie for the murder of Jack 'The Hat' McVitie in October 1967 at a house party. His body has to this day not been recovered. Both deaths were witnessed by several onlookers and the landlady at the Pub, and the other party guests at the house to which many would eventually come forward and testify. In May 1968 the brothers and 15 others members of The Firm were arrested, and Ronnie & Reggie were sentenced each to life imprisonment in 1969 with a 30 years non-parole period. In 1979 Ronnie was certified insane and spent out his last years until his death in 1995 in Broadmoor Psychiatric Prison. Reggie saw out his sentence in Wayland Prison in Norfolk and was released in 2000 on compassionate grounds, just weeks before his death from bladder cancer.
There is no doubt that the lives of these East End likely lads is the stuff of legend - nightclubs; casinos; music and film stars that included Shirley Bassey, Diana Dors, Joan Collins, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and photographer David Bailey; the politicians, the police and the locals in their pockets; and their own celebrity status all underwritten by crime, violence, revenge and underworld activities glued together by an immense never to be broken bond of family loyalty. It is these ingredients that make this such a compelling story.
Tom Hardy shines in his dual role as Ronnie and Reggie and it is his performances that carry this film when there are gaps and flaws in the storytelling that may well leave you wondering. That said, the 60's are crafted well enough here, the acts of violence when they come are brutal and won't be for everyone, but there are moments of humour and a great soundtrack that gloss over these to help lessen the impact.
This film is a worthy contender to stand beside 'The Krays' from 1990, but does it surpass it - no, and will it stand proud as a great British gangster flick - also probably not, but is it worthy of your attention and your $20, yes it is! If nothing else go and see it for Tom Hardy's brilliance as both Ronnie and Reggie Kray - both sides of the same coin but for which he gets the gong for his confident, swaggering, suited & booted, lovable and notorious man about town Reggie more so than what he does for the unhinged, unpredictable, unnerving Ronnie who ultimately was the downfall of the family.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
