Freeview film of the day: Legend
Tom Hardy teams up with himself to tell the story of the Kray twins, a gangster duo who terrorised London for years.
Legend ★★★
Premiere 9.00-11.35pm C4
Rhode Island-born Brian Helgeland, an Oscar winner for writing LA Confidential, might not be your first choice to re-tell the very English legend of celebrity gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray. But he pulled it off, thanks in no small part to force-of-nature Tom Hardy taking twin leads, digitally spliced. So distinct are his characterisations – the older-seeming, bespectacled, schizophrenic Ron; the leaner, more reasonable ex-boxer Reg – you will literally forget about the technical conceit, as the story of their rise unfolds in authentic London locations. Emily Browning brings pathos to Reggie’s wife, Chazz Palminteri some mob heft, while Helgeland adds dynamic tension to the violence and provides humorously chewy dialogue (“I came ’ere for aproper shoot-out with some proper men, like Colonel Custer and Geronimo”). Some will question further canonisation of the pair, but the film belongs to Hardy. And Hardy.
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