The last thing you ought to want to be as a gangster is famous. Hiding under the radar has got to be the better option, or you simply make yourself the number one target for the police – after all, we can’t have the public thinking crime pays, can we? Yet there is no doubt that those who court the limelight become, as the title suggests, legends. Of all the 30’s gangsters, it is Al Capone who remains a household name; of all the factions fighting it out in 60’s London, it is the Krays who stand tall; if you can think of the name of any recent mafia Don, it is probably John Gotti. All of these men were sharply dressed and imposing, each one cultivating a sheen of glamour, which obscured the violent reality. I think that boys, in particular, love the thought of owning their own club, of mixing with famous people, of commanding ‘respect’, so much so that we are willing to overlook the nastier side of how these things are actually obtained.
Eccleston’s Nipper, the dogged police officer, is the polar opposite of glamour, a grey man, seeming to lack emotion and aghast at people being taken in by the brothers’ charm. Since ‘Legend’ is breaking box office records in the UK, it seems that, as a nation, we are still being taken in by the glamour of the Krays. I don’t think many of us believe the Robin Hood-esque, ‘kind to the EastEnders’ rhetoric they themselves propagandised, but I do think they still appeal to the rebel in all of us.
Tom Hardy is quite simply astonishing in the dual role, although he comes closer to nailing Ronnie. For me, his Reggie is a little too charming and beautiful but Ronnie looks and acts more like his real counterpart. The body language is stiffer, the speaking voice more guttural and there is a constant, palpable fear that the pent-up violence will break through. Yet Hardy’s skill is to make even this screen monster charm us – there is a lovely moment where Ronnie admits, “I like boys”, to a mafia goon, not remotely caring about a potential negative reaction. Incidentally, Ron’s boyfriend, played by the stunning Taron Egerton, is the only other stand out performance in the film. His blistering debut in ‘Kingsman’ showed he was one to watch and, here he positively revels in the chaos Ronnie frequently unleashes.
Ultimately, though, for all their charisma, you cannot escape the fact that the story concludes with two brutal murders and the incarceration of our ‘heroes’ for the rest of their natural lives. What a waste.