Gangster No. 1 (Paul McGuigan, 2000)

A host of cultish English actors essay cockernee accents and test out their hard man snarls as two gangs lock horns in 1960s London. Not that we see much of what dodgy dealings their businesses are built on: the focus is mostly on Paul Bettany's psycho aspiring to the crown and the subsequent unravelling of his kingdom. In the manner of an insecure teenager believing a foul mouth proof of manhood, it goes totally overboard on the f- and c-counts and takes a worryingly deep interest in ultraviolence. And yet, once it has thereby established its deadly serious 'gritty and brutal' credentials, it seems to feel apologetic and swings towards a surprisingly mature ending, with Malcolm McDowell as the gone-to-seed older version of the upstart finally losing the plot in a non-formulaic way that isn't even hammy, which is a rarity for the actor. A very mixed bag.

5/10