This one was a surprise. I had no clue what The Long Good Friday was about, but seeing that it starred Bob Hoskins I had the general impression that it was a British detective film of some sort, given the noir title and Hoskins' appearance. Turns out I was only partly wrong, as this film concerns the failed attempt of a British gangster to do business with the American mafia and expand his empire. This is one of those instances where coming into the film completely fresh helped out, as I had no preconceived ideas about what I was about to see and was able to just let everything wash over me, being legitimately surprised by the plot's twists and turns.
Growing up on Who Framed Roger Rabbit I've always loved Bob Hoskins' lovably gruff demeanor, so it was satisfying seeing him here letting that brutal side of his personality come out. Hoskins completely owns this film, his larger than life personality dominating every scene he's in. What I liked in particular is when shit continues to go wrong for him, he starts becoming increasingly unhinged but you can still see him making an effort to stay under control. Things finally come to a head with an ill-conceived assassination, but it's hard not to feel for a guy who is constantly being swept up in events that he had no direct cause in. Not knowing much about what exactly was going on with the IRA in the 70s, their threat had little resonance with me, but the overall message of "you do not fuck with these people" came out loud and clear.
There were a lot of surprises for me in this film. The cast is largely new to me, aside from Hoskins and Helen Mirren, and everyone pops with personality. There's even an appearance by a young Pierce Brosnan as a smirking IRA thug, which completely threw me off because I couldn't shake that "holy shit it's Pierce Brosnan!" feeling. According to the Wiki page there are a number of actors who later got famous who have small parts in this film, but I'm not going to bullshit, I didn't recognize anyone else. That was a benefit here because I was able to see everyone as their character, which helps sell this world to me.
This is a film that I really need to watch a second time in order to give it an accurate assessment. Right now I really liked it and would recommend it, but the problem is that there was so much going on that I want to see it from the beginning knowing how everything turns out in the end. It almost seems like this is a tentative rating, since I'm sure I'd enjoy it even more the second time around. I did, however, enjoy it more than Amarcord, so I'm going to peg this in the #20 spot. I mean, you get to see Bob Hoskins ram a broken bottle into a dude's neck over and over, and then immediately feel bad about it. I liked that much more than the wacky schoolboy hijinx in Fellini's film.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Robocop (1987)
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
4. The Seventh Seal (1957)
5. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
6. Grand Illusion (1937)
7. High and Low (1963)
8. Shock Corridor (1963)
9. Hard Boiled (1992)
10. Sid and Nancy (1986)
11. The 400 Blows (1959)
12. Walkabout (1971)
13. The Killer (1989)
14. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
15. Dead Ringers (1988)
16. The Naked Kiss (1964)
17. A Night to Remember (1958)
18. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
19. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
20. The Long Good Friday (1980)
21. Amarcord (1973)
22. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
23. Summertime (1955)
24. Alphaville (1965)
Next time: I refuse to give that douchebag Andy Warhol any credit whatsoever when I review Paul Morrissey's Flesh For Frankenstein.
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