I just Nflixed this movie last night after hearing some rave reviews and recomendations. We got about 30 minutes into it and couldn't stand it any longer. I found it uninteresting, boring, and difficult to follow. I don't think it compares at all to Goodfellas (as someone else had mentioned). I usually enjoy this type of movie, but couldn't get into LGF
shareGive it another chance. If still doesn't work for you, sorry! It's a great gangster film.
shareDifficult to follow. Really, well, if you think this was difficult to follow then may I suggest you don't go see Inception.
I watched The Long Good Friday on DVD last night and it was a typical 80's movie, very linear simple plot, not like today's often convoluted plots.
I thought TLGF was excellent. I saw it originally in the cinemas back in the 80's. Ah, 80's nostalgia, great cars and empty roads.
Comparing any gangster film to Goodfellas will immediately make it fail in the viewer's eyes. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by this film, I was thoroughly entertained.
shareI wasn't expecting to like it. I tried it on the recommendation of other IMDb users. Wow. I loved it. One of the best. It was also nice seeing Helen Mirren as a babe.
shareI found the film overall to be as others have described a terrific British gangster film. It's actually very well balanced and paced and yes, Hellen Mirren is delicious - I was thinking it and then the young fellow in the elevator said it...
The thing that kills me is that the story wraps up just so ridiculously stupidly - it stretched credibility a tad too far to suggest that Bob Hoskin's character would seriously think his "solution" would work - certainly the way we were presented with it anyway. I think it was actually done that way on purpose to cause exactly the reaction I've had, but I really wish they'd made it all play out in a tad more sophisticated fashion.
I suspect a significant section was left on the cutting room floor (there are a few tidbits which point to this)which might explain the somewhat jarring finish. I wouldn't be surprised if the original full concept was to have all the Brit gangs work together to "clean house" so to speak - in a much more lengthy fashion than made the final cut - so making the final scene play out more credibly as far as our man genuinely believing the situation WAS sorted.
... especially the empty road. But that should be emptier road. Twenty years before that, in the Sixties, they were emptier still, although there weren't half as many motorways and dualled by-passes, and on some roads on a bad day (the A30 from Devon into Cornwall) the traffic jams could be horrific. Also there was less traffic because unlike now fewer young folk could afford a car.
share... especially the empty roads. But that should be emptier road. Twenty years before that, in the Sixties, they were emptier still, although there weren't half as many motorways and dualled by-passes, and on some roads on a bad day (the A30 from Devon into Cornwall) the traffic jams could be horrific. Also there was less traffic because unlike now fewer young folk could afford a car.
shareI would agree with the above, we know what Harold knows and that's it up until the final 30 minutes. This is the advantage of getting to make proper adult films without having to run it by a 14 year old test adience in Van Nuys or a desk full of execs who don't get it.
Why quote other people when I like the sound of my own voice?
It picks up after about 45 minutes... they lay the groundwork and things start to unfold. give it another chance. good movie. not GREAT but still love Helen Mirren.
shareTo be honest, the first 15 minutes or so were kinda weird and, the OP is right on that, hard to follow. The viewer is immediately thrown into the plot without having a clue on any of the characters or whatever they stand for. But it really picks up afterwards and I enjoyed it throughout then.
shareI thought I wasn't going to like it, but the ending sort of collapsed the whole thing that I didn't like...leaving me with? Really a lot of movies would be improved if a smiling guy with a silenced pistol showed up
shareSorry to say it but you've most likely been weaned on mob movies that move at an MTV chopped up/clipped/fast cut with scenes never lasting more than 30 seconds which robs you of your ability to just go along with the deliberate pace of a character-driven movie.
Don't try to anticipate or guess what happens next or what should happen next; just let the movie flow and concentrate on the characters and the action will follow....just sayin'.
To the original OP :
Please give it another go, like a previous poster said, the first 1/4 hour is just setting up the story line and all that you see "IS" confusing first time you watch it, once it gets going it is brutal.
Also the ending is great, just perfect.
Certainly this and Get Carter are the 2 best British gangster films to come out of Britain.
And another vote for Helen Mirren from me, although for me she gets better with age........
Yea I was slightly disappointed as well.
I see what the OP was saying that it was confusing. Not that I really ever had a hard time understanding the overall story itself, but for a Yank like myself some of the rapid paced English accents can make some of the tiny details hard to catch. Also, it doesn't help that for 80% of the movie the viewer is supposed to be as confused as Harold.
The pacing was fine in that there was always something sort of propelling events further, but it's kind of annoying that for the vast majority of the movie it's just the Corporation trying a new way to get information, or something else getting blown up.
But I did like the movie overall. Bob Hoskins was fantastic, Helen Mirren was great (and pretty sexy), the plot was cool, but for some reason everything didn't really click like I feel like it could have.
But I'll be the first to admit, I'm not 100% on board with British TV/cinema. I love a lot of it, like the Guy Ritchie movies and the original Get Carter, but a fair amount of English movies like Nil By Mouth and Naked that seem so up my alley just don't do it for me.
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Live and learn. At least we lived.
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