Legend (2015)

"Love, fight, live, rule like a legend."

Directed by Brian Helgeland
Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Chris Clark, Quentin Curtis, Brian Oliver
Screenplay by Brian Helgeland
Based on "The Profession of Violence" by John Pearson
Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, David Thewlis, Duffy, Christopher Eccleston, Chazz Palminteri
Music by Carter Burwell
Cinematography: Dick Pope
Edited by Peter McNulty
Production companies: Anton Capital Entertainment, Cross Creek Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date: 9 September 2015 (United Kingdom)
Running time: 131 minutes
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: $25 million
Box office: $38.7 million

"Legend" is a biographical crime thriller drama film written and directed by Brian Helgeland and based on the book "The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins" by John Pearson. It follows the story of the identical twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray, two of the most notorious criminals in British history, and their organised crime empire in the East End of London during the 1960s.

Cast

• Tom Hardy as Ronald "Ronnie" Kray and Reginald "Reggie" Kray
• Emily Browning as Frances Shea
• Christopher Eccleston as Leonard "Nipper" Read
• Taron Egerton as Edward "Mad Teddy" Smith
• Paul Bettany as Charlie Richardson
• Colin Morgan as Frankie Shea
• David Thewlis as Leslie Payne
• Chazz Palminteri as Angelo Bruno
• Aneurin Barnard as David Bailey
• Paul Anderson as Albert Donoghue
• Kevin McNally as Harold Wilson

Frankly speaking, I hadn't been looking forward to "Legend" but watched it in the cinema by chance and was absolutely surprised how wonderful it tuned out. 

Of course, the main attraction of the picture is Tom Hardy; or it's better to say a double dipper of Tom Hardy. Yes, he plays both twins but they seem so different I doubted my own eyes. Reggie is a dream man (at first) who competently carries on business and tries to live correctly despite the fact he's a gangster. But there's his brother Ronnie, a madman who advisedly or not destroys the empire. 

In words characters are different and characters also not the same however Tom Hardy coped with everything and I really admired his acting during the whole film.

As for disadvantages, the portrayal of Emily Browning looked too hackneyed and her dialogues sounded too commonplace (or it was the role itself).

The picture includes all gangster films cliches but that's not bad: I waited for shootouts, blood, pistols, money, depravity, impudence, man in suits, women in dresses, jazz and I got everything.

Advantages

• Tom Hardy as Reginald "Reggie" Kray
• Tom Hardy as Ronald "Ronnie" Kray
• Christopher Eccleston as Leonard "Nipper" Read
• Music
• Duffy 
• Humour
• Atmosphere
• Style

Disadvantages

• Emily Browning as Frances Shea
• Too many cliches

"Strangenesses"

• Why Frances is so silly?

Clue Moments

• Meeting with Frances
• The marriage
• Reggie in prison
• Ronnie in the club
• Death of Frances
• Death of George Cornell
• Death of Jack McVitie
• The fight between Reggie and Ronnie

Twin brothers Ronald "Ronnie" Kray (24 October 1933 – 17 March 1995) and Reginald "Reggie" Kray (24 October 1933 – 1 October 2000) were English gangsters who were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1950s and 1960s. With their gang, The Firm, the Krays were involved in armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, assaults, and the murders of Jack "The Hat" McVitie and George Cornell.

As West End nightclub owners, they mixed with politicians and prominent entertainers such as Diana Dors, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland. The Krays were much feared within their milieu; in the 1960s, they became celebrities, even being photographed by David Bailey and interviewed on television.

They were arrested on 9 May 1968 and convicted in 1969, by the efforts of detectives led by Detective Superintendent Leonard "Nipper" Read. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Ronnie remained in Broadmoor Hospital until his death on 17 March 1995; Reggie was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2000, eight weeks before his death from cancer.

Soundtracks

1. Carter Burwell - Legend
2. Booker T & The Mg’s - Green Onions (Single Version)
3. The Meters -Cissy Strut
4. The Rockin’ Berries - He’s In Town
5. Poncho Sanchez - Watermelon Man (Album Version)
6. Herman’s Hermits - I’m Into Something Good
7. Duffy - Are You Sure?
8. John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton - Hideaway (Stereo Instrumental)
9. The Dixie Cups - Chapel Of Love
10. The Starsound Orchestra - Moonglow
11. Helen Shapiro - Little Miss Lonely
12. Duffy - Make The World Go Away
13. Carter Burwell - Elegy For Frances
14. Santo & Johnny - Sleepwalk
15. Tammi Terrell & Marvin Gaye - Somethin’ Stupid
16. Carter Burwell - Your Race Is Run
17. Duffy - Whole Lotta Love (Legend Soundtrack Version)
18. Georgie Fame - Dawn Yawn
19. The High Numbers - I’m The Face
20. The Yardbirds - What Do You Want
21. Ramsey Lewis Trio - The “In” Crowd (Single Edit)
22. The Graham Bond Organisation - Strut Around
23. Rod Stewart - I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town
24. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - My Baby Loves Me (2003 Stereo Mix)
25. The Righteous Brothers - Hung On You (Single Version)
26. Ronnie Scott - They Can’t Convince Me
27. Tubby Hayes & The All Stars - Lady “E”
28. Burt Bacharach - The Look Of Love (Album Version)
29.  Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated (feat. Cyril Davies) - I Wanna Put A Tiger In Your Tank
30. Hattie Littles - Back In My Arms (Single Version (Mono))
31. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Come On Do The Jerk
32. Billy Vaughn And His Orchestra - Theme From A Summer Place (Album Version)

Quotations

* * *

Angelo Bruno: Come to Philadelphia! You see a nice girl, we'll get her for you!
Ronald Kray: I prefer boys. Italians, sometimes Greek, but I am not prejudiced.

* * *

Ronald Kray: What is that? I come here for a PROPER shootout! What you gonna do with that rollin pin? You gonna bake me a cake? What I want is a shootout, a SHOOTOUT IS A SHOOTOUT... like a Western!

* * *

Ronald Kray: Me and my brother, we're gonna rule London!

* * *

Ronald Kray: You're not afraid of anything?
Reggie Kray: Oh, only myself you know... and *you*
Ronald Kray: Um.
[nods]
Ronald Kray: Yeah

* * *

Ronald Kray: We're talking about being gangsters, that's what we are!

* * *

Ronald Kray: Blood is thicker than water!

* * *

Ronald Kray: [on his twin stabbing Jack] Why did you kill him?
Reggie Kray: [walks up so he is pressing his forehead against his twin] Because I CAN'T KILL YOU!

* * *

Frances Shea: You could go straight...
Reggie Kray: Life isn't always what we want it to be.

* * *

Ronald Kray: Yeah... You're not laughing now, are you?

* * *

Dr. Humphries: Your brother Ron is violent and psychopathic and I suspect he's paranoid schizophrenic... to put it simply he's off his f*cking rocker!
[thrusts a bottle of pills to Reggie]
Dr. Humphries: Make sure he takes these... or they'll be serious trouble

* * *

Angelo Bruno: Do something about Ron.
Reggie Kray: [slowly shakes his head] I can't do that... he's my brother.

* * *

Reggie Kray: My loyalty to my brother is how I measure myself
Frances Shea: What about your loyalty to me?

* * *

Jack 'The Hat' McVitie: [after being hit] F*ck
Reggie Kray: DON'T YOU SWEAR IN MY CLUB

* * *

You may see the trailer here.

Plot: 7/10

Entertainment: 8/10

Acting: 8/10

Originality: 7/10

Music and Sound: 7/10

7/10