The Long Good Friday (1982)

Boring

The best thing about this film is the soundtrack. 79 Euro disco and hypnotic psyche prog rock. I give the sounds track 5 stars.

The movie itself. Not so good. Unless you like boring. none of the characters are sympathetic or fascinating. theres a lot of dead air where nothings is going on. the violence is sudden sadistic and revolting, and very rare. theres not much sense of impending doom or walls closing in. theres an obvious shakespear influence - but its no where close to that kind of quality. then tried to prop it up.

the lead gangsters rant against americans at the end seems sudden and not really fitting with the theme of the film. there is a xenophobic undertone to the film - the bad guys are black, irish, or american.

this one doesnt seem up to criterion quality. more like they licensed cheap back catalog. I could barely stay awake. My GF fell asleep in the first 20min. I held on hoping it was building to something... not really. September 22, 2008

The world's your oyster... Until it isn't.

Refusal to adapt, refusal to comprehend... This is the story of a 'big time' London crime-lord's fall -- at the hands of his own ignorance.

Hoskins and Mirren deliver the filmic goods, to their credit. *Pierce Brosnan* makes the scene with a signature feral gleam already a-twinkling in his eyes, and that's worth seeing. That gleam will still be in his eyes decades later while playing the leading man (with Davis and Kinnear) in The Matador.

On the other hand, the soundtrack is annoying, whether you like 70's nostalgia or not. This combined with more flab and distractions (intentional and otherwise) almost made me rate the film a mere two stars -- and I won't bother writing about a two star.

Then it hit me: The Long Good Friday is a nearly perfect allegory of the USA's Middle-Eastern foul-ups & follies. Examined in that light, I discerned the faint glimmering of a third star. August 10, 2008

Who Lit The Fuse That Tore Harold's World Apart?

"What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?" Harold

Harold played by Bob Hoskins starts his Good Friday anticipating the day ahead of him. His plans include a large party on his yacht for a group of monied business men and a couple of men from New York. His plan is to tie up a massive real estate deal. The 1988 Olympics are coming to town and he plans to convert all the old docks into land for the Olympics.

Then the entire scheme comes apart when the 'bombings' start. First his chauffeur is bombed in his car, next his casino is blown apart and then one of his best men is killed at a gym. Harold has no enemies that he knows of. The London world of crime has been quiet for a couple of years. Who is his enemy?

Bob Hoskins keeps this film alive with his performance. Instead of retribution, Harold spends this day wondering and looking for clues. His men are spectacular. An interesting point is that real criminals worked on this set. Who knew that criminals would make good actors:-)?

Helen Mirren as Harold's class act wife is low key but she has an important role. Sexy and intelligent, she is the hostess with the mostest and charms those around her. She and Harold share a true love and they depend upon each other. I am viewing all of Helen Mirren's films and this is the start of her career as a leading lady.

When the adversaries become clear, the film shows a let-down. A true to form revenge mission is planned and the ending is not that surprising.
All in all this is a film about character and Bob Hoskins is the kind of boss one would want in the underworld.

"As long as it keeps up the mystery, the film sustains interest. This is due in no little part to Hoskins, just entering his film career after a decade of TV work but already in possession of an authoritative presence that was impossible to ignore." Chris Barsanti

A day and a night in the life of London underworld. A shrewd, intelligent film with some memorable performance by Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren.

Recommended. prisrob 06-21-08

Helen Mirren at the BBC

World War II - When Lions Roared June 21, 2008

Great Movie British Masterpiece

This movie is excellent from the cast of actors through the plot and the realistic brutality that is far more shocking for it's realism than many of the movie scenes that almost glorify the act of killing and the crazed manner in which people die,that is all to frequently seen in movies of this ilk.
The stone cold realism of someone being stabbed in the swimming pool shower scene, in this movie carried out by a very young Pierce Brosnan is so much more disturbing for the cold quick and mechanical taking of a life watched draining away with a simple scene of blood swirling down a drain as the victim lies dead,with only this trace of his existence left,than the wild shoot outs and incredible fire and fist power which is empty and ridiculous in so many films.
The lack of airs and graces along with a lack of pretence as to who is who and who does what is also something that marks the movie as sitting in a category with very few other films of this genre.
Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren as the principles are a suitably cold couple.
Bob Hoskins especially seems to relish the role of being the top man,and the outtakes and follow up interviews from years later are of great interest to any film lover.
They are far more interesting and revealing than many of the two hour "lost scene,outtake" discs that are usually the drivel that did not make it past the cut,that is why they are "lost" for so long,they should never be seen,as they are terrible.
I am cynical in that i do believe these discs are deliberately held back for cash ins at a later stage,to ease the viewers money away from them to see a load of not much at a bloated price.
I have not layed out the plot or said to much about the movie,more about the atmosphere,however giving things away to first time viewers is very unkind.
I would suggest that you do get this movie and enjoy it for yourself,you will soon see how far the quick and simple efficiency of action is far more memorable and frightening than so many other movies action filled with guns,weapons,hundreds of deaths etc yet ultimately empty of any resounding memories or of wanting to watch the movie again or tell your friends about it.
Ian. June 18, 2008

great but problematic film

This is a film is that is nearly great. Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren turn great performances as a gangster couple in the London of the early 1970s. Mirren in particular gave her role a take almost never seen in this sort of film. She is a competent partner of Hoskins playing something closer to the corporate wife than the old-style gangster's woman. Nothing like her performance has been seen before or since.

Where the film goes wrong is that while it develops an elaborate mystery of who is attacking Hoskins, it gives an answer that isn't all that interesting. What we get is the Irish/IRA as a kind of faceless and nameless invincible monster. They are everywhere and seem to know everything while Hoskins (and everyone else in London) doesn't even know who they are. They don't speak, are rarely visually shown and amount to little more than ciphers within the film.

Hoskins made the role interesting by seeming competent, but by the end of the film he is made out to be a total fool. It would have been a better film if the Irish had been more human or (better yet) the complexities of Irish Loyalist and Nationalist gangsterism had been used. With more political dialog and a better ending, this film would have reached the level of greatness. As it is, its very, very good but flawed.
March 30, 2008

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