Gangster No. 1

One has to admit that director Paul McGuigan is a master of his craft and has also gathered a decent amount of experience, so he currently belongs to the significantly better part of what British cinema has to offer. Paradoxically, I would have liked his film more as a classic straightforward gangster story about how things work and how new generations alternate within the gang, rather than as a psychological study of a deviant person, envy, and violence in general. The film portrays gangsters as people whose moral standards are shifted compared to the general population. However, McGuigan doesn't handle this psychological aspect very well, so the film sometimes teeters on the edge and the script, along with the motivations and actions of the individual characters, somewhat drags on. My weak three-star rating is ultimately saved by the cast, led by experienced actors Malcolm McDowell and Paul Bettany. Moreover, the depicted violence at times very much stands on the edge and can evoke disgust in many viewers. Overall impression: 50%. (07.08.2011)

It’s really mediocre both story-wise and filmmaking-wise. And that’s despite the fact that Gangster No. 1 appears to be a decent raw British crime movie featuring a brutal atmosphere, a hell of a soundtrack and a dark underworld. Paul Bettany shows off once or twice and that’s it. It’s a pity. I was quite curious to see what this movie would be like and in the end I have to say that if it wasn’t for a couple of scenes I probably would have been insanely bored, this way I was just bored. On the one hand, it’s raw, but on the other it’s brutally old-school. However, that doesn’t go together at all. (09.10.2012)