The Long Good Friday

A pretty basic crime flick, with a dash of British flair to make it a tad more interesting. It's clearly part of that grim 70s crime niche though, which I don't find overly appealing. Mackenzie does a decent job with the material at his disposal, but in the end it's too much of a run-of-the-mill genre flick in a genre that isn't really mine.

Harold Shand is a small-time crook hoping to become a legit businessman. He worked out a pretty good deal that could put him on his way, but soon after things start going awry. Several of his properties are bombed, Shand fears his future partners may think he isn't quite as in control as he made himself out to be.

The cinematography is pretty bland and the plot is rather predictable. But the performances are decent, and the score does its best to make an impact. It doesn't quite get there and Hoskins isn't enough of a charming bastard to carry a film like this, but at least it was a little better than many of its US peers.