Film

Gangster No. 1

Name: Gangster No. 1
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: 2000
Cast: Paul Bettany, Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Jamie Foreman, Saffron Burrows

A stylish British crime thriller about obsession and betrayal. Young gangster rises through a 1960s London underworld by attaching himself to his idol, Freddie Mays, only to destroy him with methodical cruelty. Visually inventive, morally blank, shot with the kinetic energy of someone intoxicated by violence and power.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like crime stories driven by a mouthy, sour-tempered villain and sharp, stylised violence, where the pleasure is in the character's self-regard rather than in plot mechanics.

Skip it if you need tidy plotting and a lean pace, since this is talky, uneven in tone, and runs its violence close to the bone with little relief.

What it asks of you: A compact 103 minutes, but much of it lingers in cramped, grim rooms and long silences, and you must keep track of jumps between past and present.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

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Bronson2009

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Gangster No. 1

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Once Upon a Time in America1984

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1950s Los Angeles corruption thriller with impeccable craft, a stellar ensemble, and intricate plotting that rewards attention. Every scene moves the story forward without wasting a frame. Genuinely gripping.

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Brick2006

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A Prophet2009

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GoodFellas1990

Both films seduce you into identification with their protagonist's worldview before slowly revealing the emptiness and cruelty beneath the glamour. Both are told from the gangster's perspective, not the victim's.

Henry Hill's rise and fall through the mob as narrated by Henry himself. Kinetic, funny, seductive, and horrifying by turns. Scorsese's masterpiece about the intoxication of criminal life and its inevitable ruin.

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