The film is directed by Brian Helgeland who was a co-writer of 'LA confidential' and stars Tom Hardy, Emily Browning and Christopher Eccleston amongst others.
The story goes that Director Brian Helgeland originally wanted Hardy for the role of Reggie, and Tom Hardy wanted the role of Ronnie. But after further talks, Helgeland was persuaded to let Hardy try his hand at both. The end result is a joy to watch from an actor who always gives everything.
Hardy is excellent as both Reggie and Ronnie. He brings different qualities to characters who are both complicated people. Hardy's Reggie is the less troubled soul out of the two brothers. Hardy plays him as the straighter (no pun intended) of the two, with more brains, charm and wit. Hardy also plays the paranoid schizophrenic, unhinged, homosexual twin brother Ronnie. His love for his brother can only be matched by his love for violence. Ronnie is very much the comic relief of the story but sometimes that borders on being too cartoonish. Sadly it feels Ronnie is a secondary character and spends large chunks of the movie taking a back seat to Reggie and Frances.
Emily Browning plays Frances Shea, Reggie's future wife. Browning's east end accent is spot on and her portrayal of a woman who is dealing with the ups and downs of being in a relationship with London's most infamous criminal is compelling to watch. The only problem I have with Frances is the narration which she delivers and is suppose to inform the viewer the direction of movie. There is completely no need for it. Not only is it an annoyance, it's also no way needed. Cut it out and the film would run just as smoothly and maybe cut down on the two hour runtime which in places drifts and starts to lose its way.
Overall Legend has an excellent supporting cast from the likes of Paul Bettany, David Thewlis, Taron Egerton, Paul Anderson, Colin Morgan and Christopher Eccleston. Personally I would liked to have seen Eccleston get a bit more dialogue to chew on but that is a very minor quibble.
Legend is based on a book by John Pearson which was written in 1969, 'The Profession of Violence'. So basically the film is about two very horrible brothers who did some truly horrific things to many people. It seems like portraying them as some kind of anti-heroes and glamourising them and the violence which in some parts of the movie is almost comedic is a strange route. Its more 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' than 'The Long Kiss Goodnight. Don't get me wrong its an entertaining film but probably misses the mark to been taken seriously as a true representation of what The Kray twins were like and what they did. In the film Ronnie always wanted to be known as a famous gangster and I'm sure he would have loved this film.
The script is well written and the film is well directed. Helgeland makes London look great. Legend has a good soundtrack with a great theme from Carter Burwell. Tom Hardy holds everything together from his dual role and has great support from the whole of the cast.
⭐️⭐️1/2 (out of 5)
-Dave Curtis
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