Maidgethma
Wonderfully offbeat film!
Nonureva
Really Surprised!
Ogosmith
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Delight
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Majikat
Gangster No. 1 shows a completely different style of film in terms of the Gangster sub-genre. It's more about the unfulfilled psychotic man who wants it all st every cost. A great performance from Paul Bethany and a great cast filled with British Drama actors (with an obligatory role for Jamie foreman). I'm slightly confused as to why all other characters remained the same and made up in older age, whilst Paul Bethany turns into Malcolm McDowell, perhaps that's a more symbolic gesture.
whpratt1
This is a story about a young ambitious man who likes being a gangster and when he is young the role is played by Young Gangster, (Paul Bettany). Freddie Mays, (David Thewlis) is the head king pin and decides to hire this young gangster who wants to fill his shoes someday. There are many flashbacks concerning the life of the young gangster and the older gangster played by Malcolm McDowell who managed to send Freddie Mays to prison and he also took over his entire business. There is plenty of blood and gore and rough and tough British crude language which is very hard to understand. This is a very unusual film and it will hold your interest right to the very end.
stee-9
As I am generally quite easily pleased even by the most average of films, it takes a disaster of epic proportions to motivate me to comment on their faults at length. Here is an example.Being a fan of British cinema in general, I have found myself entertained by the glut of British gangster movies released in the late Nineties/ early noughties so I have to admit I was looking forward to a fun 90 minute distraction when I came across Gangster No. 1What we have here appears on the surface to be The Talented Mr Ripley meets The Krays, where by a cocky young crook stalks (for want of a better word) his classy mobster boss, destroys his relationship and generally tries to take over his life by using shall we say, less than ethical tactics. We flashback to London in the swinging sixties where we meet the unnamed Gangster 55, played in his youth by Bettany who displays rare but outstanding moments of cold detachment that stand above and beyond anything else in this film. Forward to 1999 and we meet the contemporary 55, who is now for some reason played by Malcolm McDowell giving a performance so poor and boring that his co stars seem visibly embarrassed. McGuigan over-directs to the point that he appears to be confusing himself, one scene portrays a brutal assault played out to lighthearted background music a la Resovoir Dogs displaying none of the panache and power of Tarantino's masterpiece. Even the novelty factor of seeing the scene from the victims POV appears tacked on when compared to the subsequent Cafe battering dished out in L4yer Cake which emulated it. A criminally underused Saffron Burrows joins what appears to be an excellent supporting cast, but even the core blimey guvnor genius of Kenneth Cranham and Jamie Forman cannot inject any life into what has to be one of the most lacklustre scripts of recent years:"You alright?" "Yeah." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Yeah?"Utter rubbish
gangstahippie
Rated R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, and brief drug use and nudity. Quebec Rating:16+(should be 13+) Canadian Home Video Rating:18AI saw Gangster No 1 about a week ago on IFC.I must say, it exceeded my expectations.I knew it wasn't going to be any "Godfather".I expected to be an average gangster movie such as "Knockaround guys" or something.But Gangster No 1 exceeded my expectations and it is a fairly good gangster film with strong performances and a good storyline.The story is basically thirty years of the life of a gangster ranging from the year 1970 to the year 2000.It shows how he worked for another powerful mafia boss, how he betrayed the mafia boss,and his rise to being a rich gangster and later finding out that he is not happy with it.Gangster No 1 is a good gangster movie that is recommended.
