According to IMDb:

"Ben Kingsley claims the character of Don Logan is largely based on his grandmother."

I was going to rate this four stars, but fuck it...have five. RIP Ben's Grandma.

Oh, bloody hell. Fockin' lunacy. Fockin' sexy.

Angry blokes swearin'.

cursin'

yellin'

boilin'

roastin'

swelterin'

Some crazy cunt in a stupid bunny suit, some in stupid man suits. Oh, bloody hell. Ghandi swears like a God. Ohhhh. Ridiculous. Tremendous. Fantastic. Fan-dabby-dozy ---- tastic.

After a spellbinding experience with Under the Skin, I was anxious to see Jonathan Glazer’s other work and I can safely say that Sexy Beast is definitely another incredible film of his resume. The dark humor keeps you entertained throughout the entire movie but there’s also a very interesting conflict lived by Ray Winstone’s character. The actor gives one his best performances and Ben Kingsley is absolutely insane on screen. He truly shines in this unconventional role, showing how versatile he can be. His presence was always unsettling and intimidating to watch. The other segment with Ian McShane was also engaging and his interactions with Winstone were quite memorable. Jonathan Glazer adds some surreal imagery and a strangely poetic quality to the dialogues, showing glimpses of what would come later in his career with Under the Skin. He is already becoming of my favorite directors and I can hardly wait to watch Birth.

This was not what I expected, and I'm so glad it wasn't. A heist film where the heist doesn't really matter. It's all about the conflict between the two leading characters. One that tries to force the other back into the life of crime, and the other that will try his best to persuade him otherwise.

Ben Kingsley was both menacing and hilarious. The way his character simply repeated yes without breaking eye contact made me laugh so hard.

It's also a bit surreal and a deconstruction of the neo-noir perhaps, where tropes and typical genre motives are thrown away in order to do something completely different. I believe this film may not resonate with everyone, but it sure did with me.

DIVINE

"You're the fucking problem you fucking Dr White honkin' jam-rag fucking spunk-bubble!" ~ Don Logan

This crime drama was director Jonathan Glazer's feature debut, and he certainly started with bang. Set mainly in Spain, it tells the story of retired safecracker Gary 'Gal' Dove (Ray Winstone), who wants nothing more in life now than to lie by the pool, soaking up sunshine and being loved by his wife DeeDee (Amanda Redman). Unfortunately, his former criminal associates want him to do a job in London and they send psychopathic enforcer Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) to recruit him and take nothing but "yes" for an answer.

Rounding out the cast are Gal's similarly retired British friends Aitch (Cavan Kendall) and Jackie (Julianne White), along with Ian McShane as criminal mastermind Teddy Bass. However, it is Kingsley who steals every scene he is in, creating a character so menacing that it got him a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Brit gangster posturing as a shelter from repressed homosexuality.

Ben Kingsley is an absolute maniac, but then so is the entire film so often! Frenetic, kinetic mob fun, deliriously paced and deliciously silly. Proper geezer stuff throughout, with a few hallucinatory montage bits that kind of escaped me (but at 88 minutes I’m really not complaining about much). Perfect opening and closing scenes. Love the Stranglers.

a crime thriller where the characters commit the worst crime of all: being bri ish

Ben Kingsley goes insane. Very stylish, especially the couple of scenes with that rabbit and the freaky music.
If you’re bad at understanding heavy accents, beware.

A gangster movie rooted in a deeply lived in love.  Everyone in this movie is bringing their A game. Ian Mcshane is terrifying as a soulless gangster who sends Don Logan (Ben Kingsley)  to convince Ray Winston to come out of retirement in Spain to commit one final heist.   Glazer is only mildly interested in the heist — and more interested in Kingsley bringing his terror filled ways into Ray’s world.  It takes over an hour to get to the actual heist.  Which, by the way is also pretty freaking amazing.  Love this movie.  Just the best.

I got a job fo ya.

Wot?

Kingsley delivers surely one of the most magnetic performances of all time - the main reason that'll keep me coming back to this film again, in the future.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes.”

You people really have the audacity of saying Donnie Darko is the superior film of 2001 that features a metaphysical “rabbit”...

Peasants.

🐰

“He must be the sexy beast.”

Some thoughts:
- Imagine being Jonathan Glazer and being unable to make anything other than greatness
- Ray Winstone makes love with his voice
- Ben Kingsley makes violence with his voice
- This rabbit > Donnie Darko rabbit
- Biggest collection of leathery skin ever put to the screen

If you have carpet in the bathroom, you deserve to have it pissed on.

Strangely the warmest Glazer film and even stranger the cinematographer of this didn’t go on to make any features after this (I guess commercials are a bigger payday than small films)

Fuck it 10/10, sorry snatch but this is the best British gangster film

Script