10 Gangster Movies You Must See Before You Die
7. Gangster No. 1
At the turn of the century, British gangster movies were taking the majority of their influence from the USA, more specifically from Quentin Tarantino. Paul McGuigan bucked that trend with 2000’s Gangster No. 1, a grubby, sheenless exploration of the life of a psychotic crime boss, anchored by a genuinely astonishing performance from Paul Beatty.
The film starts with the unnamed gangster in his dotage, played by Malcolm McDowell in fine, smarmy form. He breaks the fourth wall and begins to tell the story of his rise to power.
The gangster, primarily portrayed by Beatty, is more creature than man, unfeeling and incapable of empathy, bent only on accumulating more of everything. He is taken under the wing of crime lord Freddie Mays (David Thewlis) and develops a bizarre obsession with his mentor figure, modelling himself on the boss in bizarre fashion.
It’s hard to overstate how great Beatty is here. Lanky and dead eyed, he moves with grace, but occasionally returns to a primal form, contorting his face into a terrifying scream out of nowhere as his mental state deteriorates. A fascinating film worth the ticket price for the lead alone.