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Sexy Beast
EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 56 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Louis Mellis
David Scinto
Directed by: Jonathan Glazer
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 13, 2001
DVD: March 12, 2002
Running Time: 88 minutes, Color
Origin: UK / Spain
Summary
RATING: R for pervasive language, strong violence and some sexuality
Starring Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman, Cavan Kendall, Julianne White, and Álvaro Monje
The story of one man's dangerous journey from peace of mind to paranoid panic when he's lured out of an idyllic retirement back to the gangster life. (Fox Searchlight)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
An extraordinary and original creation. It belongs alongside "Amores Perros" and "Memento" on a shortlist of 2001's most exciting revelations.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Wesley Morris
A vicious horror flick with an actual beast and someone who just acts like one.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Carries so much impacted menace and visual narrative gamesmanship that it brought back some of the excitement I felt nearly a decade ago watching Quentin Tarantino's ''Reservoir Dogs.''
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Staff (Not credited)
It's all jolly bad fun, but the primo aspect of the exercise is the phenomenally intense performance by Kingsley as a careening sociopath who is every bit as dangerous to his friends as to his foes.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
A demonstration of bravura acting.
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Though it can overreach for emotional effect and overplay its hand at times -- Sexy Beast brings considerable virtues to telling this tale, including a great eye for faces and director Glazer's palpable excitement at working in the feature medium.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Amy Taubin
There are long stretches in Sexy Beast that are so exhilarating it feels churlish to dwell on its flaws.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
He's (Kingsley) pure violence, a sociopath who radiates menace even while sitting perfectly still mouthing pleasantries.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein
One of the compulsively watchable films this year, second only to "Memento." It's a must-see, except for those with a sensitivity to on-screen mayhem.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
The movie is riotously entertaining, and with a big heart, too.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Kingsley creates an unforgettable monster. Acting rarely gets this hypnotically explosive.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
These are hard men. They could have the "Sopranos" for dinner, throw up and have them again.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
A noir masterpiece with Oscar-caliber performances, Sexy Beast slowly turns up the heat until we squirm.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Curtis Morgan
It is a riveting and memorable performance and Kingsley finds subtlety in Logan where there doesn't seem to be any.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan
Glazer has a daring sense of story structure that ratchets up the suspense, and his sense for sardonic black comedy is unerring.
Washington Post Desson Thomson
A Molotov cocktail of a movie, an engaging conflagration of British B-flick, cockney wit and gallows humor. There's even a delicate little love story in there.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Glazer shoots with the dreamy impressionism much favored in his principal line of work, all floaty slo-mos and in-your-face close-ups punctuated by a hard-driving rock score.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Appeal lies on the bright, shiny surface of its ostensibly simple plot, and in its rat-a-tat-tat language, which often sounds like Mamet-visits-Spyne.
Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
Confident, mature, deeply conceived, and convincingly inhabited, it's a surprisingly humane film -- despite the close-range shotgun spray.
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
It smarts, and shocks, and just for a moment blows your mind.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Slightly misshapen and unbalanced, with a few loose ends, a few extraneous dream sequences. But there's something going on all the time.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
Plays in spots something like a stage play smartly brought to screen.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
A smart, funny, stylish and very violent British gangster movie.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The main event is the Mamet-esque battle of foul words between vintage hard-case Ray Winstone and the seething sociopath played by Ben Kingsley.
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
Often enjoyable, massively uneven Brit ganglander with an almost surreal approach to the genre.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Kingsley gives the movie a jolt and blows the rest of it to pieces.
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
In the end, I'm wondering what's so special about a film that has but one guilty pleasure and that's Ben Kingsley spraying saliva-lubricated variants of the F-word into the atmosphere like anti-aircraft fire for 10 solid minutes.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 56 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Michael B gave it a10:
Ben Kingsley as Logan and Ray Winstone as Gal are actors at the peak of their careers in this film. The menace just oozes. Never has gangsterism been so scarily real.
gook l gave it a0:
An astonishing and entralling movie. Ben Kingsley's performance is a revelation. Hard to believe that this is the same man who played Gandhi in real life, that motherf*cker.
69 69 gave it a0:
This film has a delicate touch on today's youth, with the story of an ex-con and gangster who is forced to steal some stuff from some guy, and doesn't get to keep it, because he killed someone really annoying, who was buried under his pool, with a humonoid rabbit. WTF???? GTFO.
m m gave it a0:
A thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Though filled with adrenaline pumping action from the very start, has a soft touch that appeals to the sissies.
l l gave it a0:
An interesting and wonderful take to the life of a ex-gangster who is lured back to his old ways of being a gangster. Wonderful.
Wes M gave it a10:
Improves with repeated viewings! Kingsley is alright and I understand the praise, but I actually preferred Winstone's performance, though it was probably because his character was just more likable.
Paul M. gave it a10:
Don Logan has to be seen to be believed and that is all there is to it.Kingley gives the performance of his or any other lifetime to lift an otherwise ordinary film to unmissable status.This unbelievable character is sure to be immediately warranting dvd purchases and etching his name at the top of everybody's favourite bad guy ever list. To say that this man is outstandingly hilarious would be a gross understatement.He's utterly side splitting. Logan's psychotic behaviour is undeniably memorable and is the crown jewel in this surprise package. I would go as far as to say that this film is solely about the impact of Don Logan's dementia and nothing else because after he has blown you away no amount of Ray Winestone acting talent or Don Logan-less dialogue will sway your attention back to his rendered unimportant character Gal. An exceptional performance if ever there was one by Mr Kingsley.Watch it now
