Sexy Beast

From the off it’s clear at once that former commercials director Jonathan Glazer will be a ballsy, switched-on film-maker: Ray Winstone’s belly burns in the Spanish sun, an ice-cold flannel slyly folded over his privates – and then an a boulder bumps down the hill and bounces over the oblivious ex-villain’s head to splash-land in the swimming pool. The verve isn’t so surprising, but Glazer goes on to prove that he’s got much more than flash in his arsenal. A macabre comedy played out in deadly earnest, this has dramatic heft and tension.

Ben Kingsley’s bald and beady-eyed Don Logan is so tightly wrapped in his neuroses, he’s an alien in any social context, a monster in a man’s skin. Easy to believe Winstone’s scared to death of this maggot. The first two thirds of this superbly acted film is dynamite, even as nothing happens, really. Gal (Winstone) and wife Deedee (Amanda Redman) play reluctant hosts to Don, who’s intent on bringing Gal back to London for a big score. Gal refuses. Don insists. The tension racks up until something has to give, but you’ll be hard pressed to guess how and where the break will come.

Screening in 35mm

A crime film like no other, Sexy Beast is composed of moments of startling audacity, visual and dramatic, that arrive in waves, just long enough for you to catch your breath before the next.

Kevin Maher, The Times

Riotously entertaining.

David Edelstein, Slate