Whilst Guy Richie owes his entire career to their exploits, I am part of the last generation that will probably have any idea of who the Kray Twins were. Legend is probably going to be the last time a major feature will attempt to depict their fascinating, psychopathic, multi-faceted lives. Legend is about as an appropriate a title you can get to describe the two gangsters.
Biopics are often a great chance for an actor to show off their chops, and Legend provides Tom Hardy with double the opportunity. He is a wonderfully versatile actor here, able to create two identical, yet diametrically opposed brothers without turning it into a caricature of either. The most impressive feat comes during an extended fist fight between the two brothers. The execution of it is so flawless and natural, it wasn't until after the movie I realised what an incredible technical feat it must have been to depict one man brawling with himself.
Biopics tend to run into the same problem when trying to eke out a two hour narrative from an entire person's life. People's lives don't usually follow a neat script writing format, yet a writer is bound to formulate a conventional narrative out of them were possible. This was clear in the glitzy, ambling The Wolf of Wall Street, and it is even more apparent in Legend; perhaps doubly so when faced with having to tell the life story of two men, not one. The film employs two tactics to attempt to get around the issue; the first is to focus on Reggie, the more coherent, conflicted of the two brothers, at the expense of Ron, the larger-than-life, berserker simpleton. The second is where the film falls down: Frances.
Frances is the love interest for Reggie Kray and the narrator for the film. Legend follows her character's emotional arc, and she does a good job of creating a structure for the film to hang off, acting as the newbie to be introduced to London's crime world and an important humanising element to Ron and Reggie. But towards the end of the story her arc abruptly finishes, and with her out of the story, the movie flounders for another half an hour, moving from beat to beat without any clear end in sight.
All in all, Legend is an initially interesting, if somewhat shallow movie that resorts to the classic, now stale theme at the heart of every gangster film; "is there loyalty among thieves?" Unfortunately the movie is too long and unfocussed to be watched more than once. If it is on TV, definitely give it a watch, but don't bother buying it.
Film Codifies What is Wrong with Biopics
Whilst Guy Richie owes his entire career to their exploits, I am part of the last generation that will probably have any idea of who the Kray Twins were. Legend is probably going to be the last time a major feature will attempt to depict their fascinating, psychopathic, multi-faceted lives. Legend is about as an appropriate a title you can get to describe the two gangsters.
Biopics are often a great chance for an actor to show off their chops, and Legend provides Tom Hardy with double the opportunity. He is a wonderfully versatile actor here, able to create two identical, yet diametrically opposed brothers without turning it into a caricature of either. The most impressive feat comes during an extended fist fight between the two brothers. The execution of it is so flawless and natural, it wasn't until after the movie I realised what an incredible technical feat it must have been to depict one man brawling with himself.
Biopics tend to run into the same problem when trying to eke out a two hour narrative from an entire person's life. People's lives don't usually follow a neat script writing format, yet a writer is bound to formulate a conventional narrative out of them were possible. This was clear in the glitzy, ambling The Wolf of Wall Street, and it is even more apparent in Legend; perhaps doubly so when faced with having to tell the life story of two men, not one. The film employs two tactics to attempt to get around the issue; the first is to focus on Reggie, the more coherent, conflicted of the two brothers, at the expense of Ron, the larger-than-life, berserker simpleton. The second is where the film falls down: Frances.
Frances is the love interest for Reggie Kray and the narrator for the film. Legend follows her character's emotional arc, and she does a good job of creating a structure for the film to hang off, acting as the newbie to be introduced to London's crime world and an important humanising element to Ron and Reggie. But towards the end of the story her arc abruptly finishes, and with her out of the story, the movie flounders for another half an hour, moving from beat to beat without any clear end in sight.
All in all, Legend is an initially interesting, if somewhat shallow movie that resorts to the classic, now stale theme at the heart of every gangster film; "is there loyalty among thieves?" Unfortunately the movie is too long and unfocussed to be watched more than once. If it is on TV, definitely give it a watch, but don't bother buying it.