Sexy Beast (2000)

Directed by: Jonathan Glazer | 89 minutes | drama, crime | Actors: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman, James Fox, Cavan Kendall, Julianne White, Álvaro Monje, Robert Atiko, Nieves del Amo Oruet, Enrique Alemán Fabrega, Gérard Barray, José Maria Cano Ramos, Desirée Erasmus, Santiago Frias Munoz

Every now and then a villain comes along on the silver screen that you won’t soon forget. Think Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins) in ‘Silence of the Lambs’ or Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) in ‘Blue Velvet’. These types of villains all have in common that they give you chills. Talking about them is done with a mixture of respect and fear, and their presence makes for awkward moments. They all have the same quality that distinguishes all great villains: they put the common man against the wall by refusing to conform to the social values ​​that we take for granted. This puts us at a disadvantage when we are confronted with the evil souls of this world who know no rules and, in an easy and horrific way, disregard those rules that we do follow. The villain reminds us at that moment how vulnerable and weak we really are.

In ‘Sexy Beast’ there is such a villain: Don Logan, played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley. Don comes from England to Spain, where Gal lives. Gal is actually the main character in this movie. He is a retired gangster who now mainly enjoys the sun, his wife and the delicious Spanish food. The film opens with a beautiful scene where Gal is baking in the blistering sun at the edge of his pool. Suddenly a large boulder comes loose from the slope above the house and rolls down at great speed. With a huge splash, this block ends up in the pool, missing Gal by a hair. Gal’s quiet life is disrupted at that moment, the boulder that violently falls into the pool is a metaphor for the arrival of Don. Don comes to Spain to persuade Gal to join another job in England. Although, persuade isn’t really the right word. Don simply tells Gal to join this heist. The fact that Gal is retired and doesn’t really want to is irrelevant to him. And Don isn’t exactly the person you refuse to do right now. Before Don is introduced, he has been the subject of conversation a number of times and just mentioning his name causes ominous looks from the people who talk about him. Don is so evil and scary that even his fellow mobsters fear him. Because he is first talked about before he can be seen, you as a viewer already form an image of Don. This is very well done from the makers, Don is already menacing while he hasn’t even been seen yet.

What makes ‘Sexy Beast’ great is the threat of violence rather than the violence itself. Without using a single weapon, Don is able to terrorize and frighten a room full of reasonable people simply by his cold look and unpredictable demeanor. One moment he seems rational and in control until he suddenly bursts into an explosion of rage. Don is a loose powder keg that could explode at any moment. Not only is Ben Kingsley excellent in ‘Sexy Beast’, Ray Winstone is also very good as Gal. On the contrary, he plays very modestly the retired gangster who especially loves his wife very much, in this way forming a nice contrast with Don.

A well-written script with some black humor here and there, as can be seen more and more in today’s gangster film, but especially the acting performance of Ben Kingsley is overwhelming, he rightly received an Oscar nomination for this because it is scary and how good it is!