An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk and who joined Freddie's gang—a man he both envied and ultimately betrayed.
Acting
Bettany's silent, predatory stillness—utterly terrifying.
Direction
McGuigan's split-screen violence feels like a fever dream.
Production
Grotty 60s London recreated with love and rot.
Director
Paul McGuigan
Paul Bettany
Younger Gangster
Malcolm McDowell
Gangster 55
David Thewlis
Freddie Mays
Jamie Foreman
Lenny Taylor
Saffron Burrows
Karen
Kenneth Cranham
Tommy
Eddie Marsan
Eddie Miller
Andrew Lincoln
Maxie King
Doug Allen
Mad John
Razaaq Adoti
Roland
Johnny Harris
Derek
Cavan Clerkin
Billy
Anton Valensi
Trevor
Jack Pierce
Jack the Lad
Lorraine Stanley
Attacker's Friend
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Paul Bettany based his performance on watching lions—specifically how still they are before attacking. You can see it in every frame.
The film adapts a 1988 play; McDowell originated the stage role of Gangster 55, making his casting here a full-circle moment of an older predator confronting his younger self.
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