Beauty of the "Beast"

Like Steven Soderburgh's 1999 revenge sleeper "The Limey", first-time director Jonathan Glazer's "Sexy Beast" is a film that takes a familiar premise - in this case, a retired thief who is asked to pull one last job - and makes it exciting again through the use of interesting characters, elegant camerawork and exhilarating storytelling.

As simple as it sounds, the story revolves around Gary "Gal" Dove, a retired thief of some kind whose idyllic life of leisure in the Spanish countryside is disrupted when he gets a phone call from an old colleague. The call can only mean one thing: one last job. Unfortunately for Gal this is no ordinary colleague, it's Don Logan. Fortunately for the audience, Don Logan is played by Ben Kingsley.

Of course, Mr. Kingsley is most identified with his Oscar-winning performance as the title in 1982's "Gandhi". In "Beast" he gives what could only be called a star-redefining performance. Mr. Kingsley's performances have always been subtle and understated - the quietly clueless Vice President in "Dave"; the apprehensive, frightened Itzhak Stern in "Schindler's List" - he has rarely played a villain. In "Beast", Mr. Kingsley is given free reign to flex his hitherto unknown ferocity. We know that Gal fears Don's arrival, but we don't understand why until Mr. Kingsley enters. He bounds through an airport and into Gal's life with the unstoppable force of a steamroller. He is Hurricane Don. And his scenes are absolutely electric.

Mr. Glazer supports Mr. Kingsley with an able cast and he directs the film as though he is hungry. He takes each scene in the film and weaves his camera into it. The result is a film which engages the audience and pulls them along as the characters deal with Don's arrival in ways which are both real and surprising. The direction that the film eventually takes is best left unspoiled, but it, like Mr. Kingsley's performance, is thoroughly original and a pleasure to behold.