The Long Good Friday
Directed by John Mackenzie
Written by Barry Keene
1980/UK
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
Harold: You don’t crucify people! Not on Good Friday!
Combine London, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, and plenty of explosions and you get a gangland movie with a difference.
Harold (Hoskins) is the head of a vast criminal enterprise that includes pubs, restaurants and casinos. He sees the opportunity to legitimize himself by selling out to the American Mafia. Moll Victoria (Mirren) helps him put on a lavish show for the potential buyers. Then the businesses begin to be bombed and several of Harold’s colleagues are killed. Not the splash that Harold expected for sure. And he can’t figure out who is out to get him.  With Eddie Constantine as the Mafia guy and Pierce Brosnan in his film debut.
Despite the brutal violence, this is an entertaining film. And the acting, needless to say, is excellent.
