Barnes & Noble

This British gangster movie might not enjoy the historical status of Little Caesar or Public Enemy, but it's a brilliant update of genre conventions distinguished by the star-making performance of Bob Hoskins. Best known as a character actor, Hoskins has demonstrated more than once his ability to carry a film: this one, he picks up and runs with. He's perfectly cast as Friday's protagonist, a highly entrepreneurial mobster named Harold Shand. Although a volatile sociopath, he enjoys relationships with British politicos and legitimate businessmen, and is on the verge of cobbling together a deal that will unite the English and American underworld in a massive London waterfront development. On the verge of this triumph, though, he finds himself locked in a bloody turf war that threatens to decimate his criminal empire. Hoskins, who looks every bit the ferocious bulldog he plays here, makes Harold a modern-day Macbeth, intoxicated by power but surrounded by deceit and treachery. Helen Mirren is superb as his ambitious "moll," and veteran actors Eddie Constantine, Bryan Marshall, and George Coulouris lend excellent support. There's also a nice bit featuring a young Pierce Brosnan as an IRA terrorist. Barrie Keeffe's script isn't always easy to follow, but John Mackenzie's assured direction keeps Friday barreling along. The film is frank and brutal, but it has the kind of raw power that compels viewer attention throughout. Despite years of gangster thrillers since its original 1980 theatrical release, The Long Good Friday remain among the most vital and energetic examples of the genre. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

John Mackenzie's masterfully directed British crime drama features a star-making performance by Bob Hoskins as Harold Shand, a successful London gangster whose world falls apart over the course of one weekend. Shand controls the London docks and is planning a big real estate deal, financed by money from the American mob and given the okay by the London organization. His world is sweet -- he lives in a fancy penthouse, he owns a yacht, and has a sensitive and intelligent mistress. But suddenly a bomb explodes inside his Rolls Royce, another bomb destroys a pub he owns, and a third is found inside his casino. Shand can't understand who would suddenly want him dead, particularly over the Easter weekend, when representatives from the American mafia are coming into town to discuss investing in Shands's real estate project. Paul Brenner

Product Details

• UPC: 715515009621
• Source: CRITERION
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Alternate Wide Screen (1.77:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: monaural
• Language: English
• Time: 1:54:00
• Sales Rank: 7,667

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