Legend
by Brian Helgeland (2016)
The Kray twins and the story of their vast criminal empire in 1960s London, filled with jealousy, internal struggles, and uncontrollable outbursts of violence.
“Aristocrats and criminals have a lot in common: they are selfish, easily bored, and have access to piles of money they haven’t earned through honest work.
The cherry on top? None of them care for bourgeois rules and morality. Put them together around a roulette table. An incredible recipe for success.”
(Frances Shea)
Tom Hardy – first and foremost.
There are films that struggle to show their full potential because something steals the spotlight, taking over the scene forcefully, relegating everything else to a mere supporting role.
In this case, that something is Tom Hardy, who plays two characters.
And he does so superbly.
On one hand, we have Reggie/Reginald, the pragmatic twin, always elegant, viewing the family business with the professionalism and tenacity of an entrepreneur.
His bursts of anger and violence are rare but significant, and his love-hate relationship with his twin, at times touching, is the thread running through his entire existence.
Then there’s Ron/Ronald, the loose cannon. An openly gay man, diagnosed with mental disorders and resistant to any rehabilitation therapy.
Always looking for a fight or a reason to argue, he loves playing the gangster and lives for conflict, with no half-measures.
He stomps over everything in his path and drags everyone into his destructive madness.
Caught in the middle is Frances, the story’s narrator: beautiful and fragile, first Reggie’s fiancée, then wife.
But her position is not easy: always threatened by Ronald’s jealousy, who sees her as an obstacle in his relationship with his twin, and not inclined to play the role of the “boss’s moll.”
CONSIDERATIONS.
Helgeland, who was also the screenwriter of *L.A. Confidential* and *Mystic River*, focuses in Legend on the spectacularity of the staging and the actors’ performances.
He delivers a fast-paced film with photography that’s perhaps a bit too glossy.
But when violence erupts, it does so with the right intensity (as in the bar showdown scene).
Emily Browning is excellent at not being overshadowed by Hardy’s brilliance and exuberance, who truly dominates the film.
She carves out her own space and plays a crucial role in the story’s development, with a performance that is effective and never over-the-top.
Legend is a film that’s enjoyable to watch and doesn’t disappoint.
Recommended.
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