Director: John Mackenzie
Writer: Barrie Keeffe
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Helen
Mirren, Derek Thompson, Dave King, Bryan Marshall, Eddie Constantine, Paul
Freeman, Pierce Brosnan
“The Long Good Friday” is
like so many of the great movies I’ve been experiencing lately. It sneaks up on
you. Its greatness is never fully apparent until it’s run its course.
Throughout most of its running time, it’s a good crime noir. Bob Hoskins is
excellent at getting the audience on the side of his crime boss who stays just
legitimate enough for him to justify his actions as being done for the good of
London.
He’s been away in America
working on a land development deal that he’s hoping will coincide with the
Olympics coming to London in 1988. Now, the American he’s been wooing for
financial backing is coming to London for the final negotiations. On the day
the American arrives, Good Friday, someone starts an attack on Hoskins’
organization, killing several of his top men. He must resolve his problems
within 24 hours, or the American will back out. What the filmmakers didn’t know
is that the ’88 Olympic hosting bid would go to Seoul, South Korea. That would’ve
thrown a wrench in his plans as well.
A young Helen Mirren plays
Hoskins’ lover and right-hand woman, the anchor for his mobster brutality. A
very young Pierce Brosnan also plays a small role as do several other British
actors who would go on to success in England. The movie is probably director
John Mackenzie’s best and is a landmark in British crime movies. Directors Guy
Ritchie (“Sherlock Holmes”) and Matthew Vaughn (“X-Men: First Class”) owe much
of their early work to the influence of “The Long Good Friday”.
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