The Long Good Friday

If The Long Good Friday had nothing in it that worked, it would still have its ending which works so damn well that you are in awe. Fortunately it has so much in it that works which makes said ending that much more fantastic. It was directed by John Mackenzie and stars Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. And Hoskins and Mirren are in top form. This is an old school British gangster film with a synth based soundtrack that you expect from a 70s film. And in no particular order it is in the top ten of my favorite films.

Hoskins plays Harold, a British gangster who rules London. His gangster moll is (Helen Mirren). Hoskins is working up a deal with the American Mafia to develop an area of London in anticipation of the 1988 Olympics. On Good Friday the Americans arrive in town at the same time as someone starts killing Harold's men and blowing up his businesses. Hoskins has only a short window to fix this problem before the Americans abandon the deal. I'll leave to the viewer to discover what went wrong, who is responsible for the deaths and oh the ending.

This is Hoskins at his best. Harold is a blue collar criminal with ideas of greater things. Its clear that he got to the top by being brutal and then brokering a deal to keep the peace. He has politicians and cops in his pocket and clearly has a handle on logistics of being a mobster but always lurking under the surface is that angry and bolstering street tough. Mirren matches him perfectly. She isn't simply a beautiful face but a fully realized smart, tough woman. She has no difficulty giving orders to Harold's men and she adds a bit of charm and class that Harold is ultimately incapable of pulling off.

Watching Hoskins unravel as he discovers what is happening is fascinating. More than willing to have his old rivals be bound and hung upside down on meat hooks, he has no fear of consequences. He is top dog. When Harold does determine what has happened and who is responsible he does something that you know is stupid, his men know is stupid, deep down maybe even Harold knows it is stupid but he can't accept that he isn't in charge. That he isn't the man to fear.

The end is two fold, which is not to say that it ends then ends again but rather it has two parts to it which work so fantastically. To be fair I shouldn't spoil it because its just too good to be ruined by my inadequacy to describe it. I'll just say that it shows Hoskins ranging from the height of arrogance and smugness to the lows of humility and self realization. Oh and about two minutes of Hoskins just looking at the camera, his face distorting in a variety of ways as he goes through his emotions, like the five steps of grief.