Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins) is the boss of the London underworld. But you wouldn't know it from the first 20 minutes of "The Long Good Friday", director John Mackenzie's stylish gangster film. When we first meet "H", he's greeted by a friend at the airport and brought to his houseboat in London's Docklands district to enjoy Bloody Marys with his girlfriend, Victoria (Helen Mirren). H, it seems, is in the middle of a multi-million dollar business deal with some American investors and he wants everything to be perfect for their visit.
Everything, however, is about to become far from perfect after a car bomb kicks off a series of attacks on Harold's friends, family and business. That business, by the way, is being a ruthless gangster, which we learn as Harold starts rounding up the usual suspects to get to the bottom of the attacks. Harold is meticulous as he barks order, steamrolls over the police and utters an endless stream of nearly incomprehensible Cockney slang.
Writer Barrie Keeffe's script is a twisty tale of murder and double-cross, but it's held together by its memorable characters, snappy direction and some nasty interrogation techniques, including hanging from a meathook and sliced buttocks. Over the course of that long Good Friday, the extended cast of characters, including P.H. Moriarty as H's sidekick, Razors, keeps Mr. Keeffe's plot buzzing along. It takes some time for Harold to come up with any leads, but he never wavers in his determination. Mr. Hoskins is perfect in the role. At once an insecure child and a ferocious bulldog, he tries in vain to fight his nature and become a legitimate business man. Of course, the winking nod in Mr. Keeffe's script is that all businessmen are gangsters at heart.
I never would have pegged Helen Mirren as a gangster's moll, but her Victoria is something more. She's Harold's literal partner in crime, doing her part to keep his investors happy while he tries to sort out the plot against him. In the end, of course, the plot isn't really important (which is good because it's never quite clear), the fun is in the journey. With Mr. Hoskins as the guide, that journey is a wild ride.
[editor's note: view our companion DVD review of the upcoming Long Good Friday DVD.]
