Sexy Beast

Name: Sexy Beast
Genre: Drama, Crime
Released: June 13, 2001
Duration: 89 min
Rating: 79
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone

2001

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 78 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 78 Ratings

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Sexy Beast

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Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: June 13, 2001 | R

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone

Summary: 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)

Director: Jonathan Glazer

Genre(s): Drama, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 89 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

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

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

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

Roger Ebert

These are hard men. They could have the "Sopranos" for dinner, throw up and have them again. Read full review

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

Marc Savlov

It smarts, and shocks, and just for a moment blows your mind. Read full review

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

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User Reviews

geewah

Jan 21, 2021

One of, if not the best movie of 2001.
A crime drama that is beautifully shot and exceptionally well written. Led by Ben Kingsley's portrayal of Don Logan, one of the scariest characters ever seen on the big screen.
A movie that ever in it's quiet moments is filled with fear.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

WesM

Jun 24, 2008

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.

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jdicksteihn

May 23, 2012

The closest thing to a perfect movie that I've found. There's too many great things about it to list here. Here's one interesting nuance. If you want to know the key to the power of Ben Kingsley's performance, it is not actually Ben Kingsley (though he is wonderful). Watch the movie upThe closest thing to a perfect movie that I've found. There's too many great things about it to list here. Here's one interesting nuance. If you want to know the key to the power of Ben Kingsley's performance, it is not actually Ben Kingsley (though he is wonderful). Watch the movie up until Kingsley's arrival and then turn it off. Tell me then what you would think of Don Logan had he never made an appearance in the movie. Watch everyone's reaction at the table when Jackie says "It was Don Logan" who called for Gal. This director created an unbelievable monster of a character in Don Logan before he entered frame. It is in this way that Jonathan Glazer is largely responsible for the character of Don Logan. And why Ben Kingsley was able to spend most of his performance not raising his voice and seem utterly terrifying. Brilliant example of a director defining a character by the other character's reactions to him. Only one of the trillion great things about this film.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ERG1008

Aug 19, 2010

Retired ex-con, lives in Spain, gets call from London to do one more job, declines, old "friend" comes over to persuade him.
Very under-rated British film from 2000 that stands out in the Brit Gangster dross that was coming out at this time.
It's a pretty simple story but very well acted outRetired ex-con, lives in Spain, gets call from London to do one more job, declines, old "friend" comes over to persuade him.
Very under-rated British film from 2000 that stands out in the Brit Gangster dross that was coming out at this time.
It's a pretty simple story but very well acted out & then of course there's Ben Kingsley.
I remember telling a mate about this and he didn't believe me how nasty Kingsley could be in a film. He's terrifying, funny & fascinating in every single scene in which he features.
Soundtrack isn't bad either.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Nov 22, 2021

This is a crime thriller film with themes featured including gangsters, heists and excesses in general. From the start, this film seemed quite stylish, with a definite gritty urban feel to it, though its set in spain and not London. The main character, Gal (the supposedly retired criminal)This is a crime thriller film with themes featured including gangsters, heists and excesses in general. From the start, this film seemed quite stylish, with a definite gritty urban feel to it, though its set in spain and not London. The main character, Gal (the supposedly retired criminal) is very much of the London cockney-geezer-type variety - a lairy old lad, you could say. Ray Winstone was a good choice to play this role as he, I thought, did look the part quite well. He has a decent cocky swagger about him in any casea and seems like he could well be the blagging type. As I say its quite stylish, with an artistic element to some of the scenes, such as when Gal is apparently daydreaming, either that or re-living moments from his past (this isn't made entirely clear to the viewer). There are some quite sinister scenes which involve a strange, frightening looking creature, visually somewhat similar to the one in 'Donnie Darko', which I presume to be an early warning of the great danger and possible misfortune to come. The film makes good use of background incidental music to wrack up the tension, with loud bass lines played at times. It is pretty atmospheric and its fair to say that there's an amount of one-upmanship between characters, mainly Gal and Don.

Cast wise, aside from Ray Winstone; other cast members include Ben Kingsley as the deranged Don Logan - most certainly someone not to be messed with by any means - other characters look visibly nervous and anxious when around him and rightly so as we learn. It felt spooky and perhaps even menacing quite how casually he explains certain things which puts Gal on the back foot, something we would guess thats not easily achieved. Also present are Ian McShane as Teddy Bass and Amanda Redman, who plays Deedee Dove. McShane is also well cast as he also does well at portraying a character who is very self-assured. Due to these good performances, I'd say it is a relatively immersive film - both the cast/performances and the music help make this so.

Content wise, this film contains some sex references and a lot of very strong, sexually explicity language, plus of course strong violence, which is mostly via gunfire. Bloody injuries are shown. The film also has, of course, a somewhat frightening or worrying tone to it and the said creature appearing during dream sequences may scare younger people. Due to this, the film has been given an 18 rating in the UK.

This is more of a character driven film than a fast paced shoot 'em up type of action film, as the plot pace is quite slow but then I liked that it focussed on Gal and Don seemingly eyeing each other up and trying to second guess things. They are interesting characters, for their own reasons, which is hard to explain in much detail. It does well, as a film, at making you feel like anything could happen at little notice but never being sure quite when the proverbial line may be crossed and the proverbial may hit the fan, so to speak.

Some of the dialogue is relatively witty and sharp at times - its definitely an unsettling watch at times (which should be expected given the type of film it is). It also features some decent camerawork, with some shots filmed from high or low angles, showing various characters in different situations, their vulnerability made even more clear from the angles their shown from.

Yes, I'd recommend this film as I felt it was quite stylish and atmospheric, featuring a decent cast and a good use of music.… Expand

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Spangle

Mar 18, 2015

Despite the lack of thrills, Sexy Beast still manages to be compelling due to the fact that it is completely unlike every other "gangster" film you have ever seen. While there is some violence, the emphasis is certainly not on it, rather it is on the characters here. Featuring greatDespite the lack of thrills, Sexy Beast still manages to be compelling due to the fact that it is completely unlike every other "gangster" film you have ever seen. While there is some violence, the emphasis is certainly not on it, rather it is on the characters here. Featuring great performances from Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley, this one is quite subtle, but does think it is smarter than it really is at times. In director Jonathan Glazer's latest film, Under the Skin, I had the same complaint I do here in that he tries to make it seem deeper than it really is. His debut feature is far more enjoyable for me, but still features that same problem. Plus, some scenes were a little overdone and could have just been done normally. Glazer tries to outdo himself at times and it winds up hurting the overall product. In spite of that, Winstone and Kingsley were amazing and their chemistry is what made this film. As a whole, Sexy Beast is a good gangster flick that does try too hard at times, but when it stays focused, it is quite compelling.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Sep 23, 2009

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.

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34	#34 Best Movie of 2001
52	#52 Most Discussed Movie of 2001
1	#1 Most Shared Movie of 2001