During my recent hiatus I was still watching movies, one of them being the ground breaking and controversial A Clockwork Orange (1971) which starred Malcolm McDowell. After liking him in Time after Time (1978) and A Clockwork Orange, seeing his name on the cover was enough to convince me to watch the movie Gangster No. 1 (2000).
To be frank I have been let down by several of the British crime flicks I've seen... mainly those directed by Guy Ritchie, because many times the movies rely too heavily on conventions and American precedent, but Gangster No. 1 is surprisingly original. To begin with, the movie is stylized beyond belief, shots are broken up in a nod to old pop art movies, with fourth wall breaks and a bi-linear plot of The Gangster (McDowell and Paul Bettany) in the modern times and as a young man, facing his own fall and rising respectively. Although released in 2000, the movie oozes 1960s cool, mainly because that's when the Gangster begins to make his climb to the top.
In that regard it seems like most Rise of the Gangster movies (see Scarface, Carlito's Way, State Property, The Public Enemy, GoodFellas, etc), and in many ways it is conventional: young Gangster learns from Boss, only to later usurp Boss resulting in animosity and blood shedding, but because of all the style and the variables thrown into the formula is enough to make Gangster No. 1 different and exciting.
Although it's not his first movie, this is the first Paul McGuigan movie I've seen, and I was pleasantly pleased by his eye for style. I know I have been saying the word "style" a lot, but that's only because this movie had more in the opening minutes than Snatch had in it's entire run time. McGuigan captures the brutality of the Gangster and the world around him in a way that is visually pleasing and impressive for a man on his second film.
Furthermore, McGuigan was working from a great script by Johnny Ferguson. My main problem with the films of Ritchie is that he is a so-so screen writer who tries to be edgy and funny, but fails. Ferguson on the other hand gives a subtle wit to a very violent movie, kind of like a lesser Tarantino.
The acting is all amazing, McDowell is grand, playing the character (in his own words) as an older Alex Destrange. As such the character has a roguish charm to him, despite not getting a lot of screen time until Act III. The way The Gangster narrates Act I and II though do establish him as a very strong character, despite McDowell's face being absent for much of the early stages of the film.
That being said the man playing the Gangster during Acts I and II really owns this movie; and that man is Paul Bettany. Many Americans will know him as the hype man Geoffery Chaucer in A Knight's Tale (2003), but his role here is so far removed from that film that it;s hard to imagine that same jovial man is this violent psychopath who rises to the top... of a heap of corpses. The sheer ice of The Gangster's soul shows every time Bettany opens his eyes, cold and unforgiving.
To be honest this is a very good movie: great acting, a great script, great direction, amazing style and a very cool plot roller coaster. Although it won't be on any of my crime top 5s it's a very thrilling movie and worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
Dr. Brooklyn says: LIKE this movie (9.25/10)
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