A double dose of Tom Hardy as England’s infamous famous brother mobsters The Kray Twins casts him under the light as a “Legend”. The film tells the story of the identical twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray, two of the most notorious criminals in British history, and their organized crime empire in the East End of London during the 1960s. With the help of an American business mobster (Played by Chazz Palminteri), the twins wreak havoc on the country’s vastly changing nightlife culture scene. Along the way, Reggie meets and falls in love with 16 year old Frances Shea (Played by Emily Browning), but their romance is challenged by brother Ronnie’s continuing declining condition mentally, as well as their opposite upbringings tearing them apart morally.”Legend” is a charasmatic crime thriller taking us into the secret history of the 1960s and the extraordinary events that secured the reputation of the Kray Twins. “Legend” is currently out of theaters after a disappointing marketing campaign that left the film virtually forgotten after showing in less than 10% of theaters nationwide.

On the subject of the performances, there was never reason to believe for a second that Tom Hardy couldn’t pull off the twistedly charming demeanor of the infamous twins. As Reggie, Hardy charms his way into the hearts of the audience at home, often times glorifying the very terror that his history entails. It’s interesting from a spectator’s standpoint because we fall for Reggie as easily as Frances does in the film. There’s a kind of sweet stability to half of Hardy’s performance that gives him the wings creatively to be an intriguing leading man. As Ronnie, Hardy throws all of that out the window to give the audience one of the wildest performances of the year. Hardy has always been a master of voices, but his dedication to Ronnie’s speech patterns had me getting lost in the character, even forgetting that Hardy was playing him at times. His performance is that convincing, and one of many things that keeps “Legend” afloat during a third act which changes the film around completely. Emily Browning is also a delightful slice of decadence as Reggie’s leading lady. It’s a perfect casting choice for Browning, as her physical look is that of someone who looks much younger than she is. She plays a sixteen year old in the film, and it’s an important choice for the film to hint to the audience that there is something deeply disturbing about Reggie despite the fact that he hides it better. He is hitting on a girl almost half his age, and her reactions to this almost rockstar lifestyle leave her intrigued at the madness playing out behind the smooth exterior. Emily surprisingly serves as the narrator of the film, and her telling of the story is a bit of a shock by the end of the movie. It gives the film a creative method of storytelling that I don’t think I have ever seen. Besides this, there are plenty of admirable turns by Paul Betthany, Chazz Palminteri, and Christopher Eccestein as the detective hot on the trail of the twins.

One of the few things that plagued this film for me was the inadequate mood template of the film. I can commend writer and director Brian Hegeland’s script for having a sense of humor, but it’s because of this direction creatively that we rarely get to peel back the layers at what makes these two men tick. After two hours of screen time, I felt like I knew even less about the twins after the credits rolled than I did going into the movie. The worst of crimes are played off as a joke of cartoonish levels, and it left me demanding more exposition time for character development. The movie starts off right in the middle of their adulthood, so it’s kind of a negative that we never really get any backstory from these mysterious figure. The biggest hurdle for the movie to clear is getting it’s audience to take anything seriously. This was a terrific opportunity to take advantage of showcasing the everchanging landscapes of England’s mob world, but the movie is more focused on reaching for a laugh instead of committing itself to anything visually with some remote depth. Even the love story here feels rushed and only brought up as side dish for the main course of wacky night time shenanigans. There are times when Hegeland’s script feels like the second coming of “Goodfellas”, but instead settles for “Mickey Blue Eyes”.

The visual look of the film is one that commits itself to take care of some of the handicaps creatively in the script’s material. The camera work is quick cutting, close, and hard hitting to follow the violently brutal bar fights full of the bare knuckles style of European fighting. Dick Pope (Honeydripper) is a master of gorgeous cinematography, and he serves as a go to guy for the retro looks of British history. I particularly enjoyed the lighting of the club scenes, as there is an accurate representation of mob surroundings without ever beating the audience over the head with it. The light smoke clouds in the air is a cheap but productive effect to the kinds of attitudes that inhabit the patrons of such a place. I really enjoyed the visual presentations of this film, and while it might not be the most faithful of storytelling for it’s characters, it does represent faithfully the gritty crime underworld of London during the 1960’s.

Overall, “Legend” doesn’t quite live up to it’s imposing name, but the committed performance of Hardy as a two man sideshow, as well as the intoxicating cultures of the film’s setting, gives curiousity seekers enough of a reason to check this out when it hits DVD shelves. The movie isn’t the most faithful or in-depth of mob stories, but this one is all about the entertainment, and if that is what you seek, “Legend” hits it’s target.

6/10