In this violent, commanding English underworld drama, preternaturally menacing Malcolm McDowell stars as a vicious mafia thug--at the top of the criminal food chain--whose greatest pleasure in life is the knowledge that everyone he knows is scared to death of him. Unfortunately, his position is threatened when his old boss--the man he tried to kill when consolidating power in his hungry and ruthlessly ambitious youth--is set to leave jail 30 years after our boy framed him for murder. Flashing back to the late 1960s, McDowell narrates his ruthless, backstabbing, nameless gangster's rise to power, as Paul Bettany (A Knight's Tale, A Beautiful Mind) plays him as a young thug in a chilling yet seductive performance, expressing with his body language the venom in McDowell's voiceover. All the other characters--who change immensely over the years--are played by the same actors in both past and present (thanks to amazing age makeup). Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a five-minute "making-of," a three-minute deleted scene (basically a monologue by McDowell), and audio commentary by director Paul McGuigan. Bottom line: a standard extras package for a solid sleeper.](R. Blackwelder)
Gangster No. 1
MGM, 103 min., R, VHS: $39.95, DVD: $32.95, Oct. 8 Volume 17, Issue 6
Gangster No. 1
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