Legend
Based on the lives of the Kray twins, Legend set out with a potentially exciting story.
Unfortunately, we're treated to all the classics of the biopic: the voice-over, the 3-act construction and the academic direction (although I did remember one very pretty shot at the end of the film).
The music sometimes falls way off the mark, and after J. Edgar et The Iron lady, I'm coming to believe that this is inherent to the genre.
Legend is more an excuse for Tom Hardy's performance than anything else, and that's a shame, because Ron and Reggie Kray's story deserved better.
Here, we get lost between the relationship between the two brothers (Ron has serious psychological problems and Reggie struggles to keep him in line) and Reggie and Frances' relationship. At times it turns melodramatic, which is a real shame because the first third of the film promised something else.
The rise and fall of the Kray brothers resembles all the others, and I sometimes got the impression that the screenwriter wanted to tackle too many different subjects.
Having said that, while it's not the gangster film of the century, it's still a decent piece of entertainment, if a little long-winded, and it's always good to see Christopher Eccleston and David Thewlis again.
If you want a really good gangster movie, there's The Untouchables, which really lives up to its reputation, and Carlito's way, Brian De Palma's masterpiece about redemption.
