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Bookmark this pageThe Long Good Friday (1979)
Director: John MacKenzie
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Overrated thriller, often ludicrously compared to the only superficially similar Performance. About an East End gangland leader, with plans to develop the Docklands with the help of organised crime from overseas, who sees his empire threatened with extinction after a number of disasters are inflicted on him by mysterious rivals, it certainly manages to create a more convincing and contemporarily relevant London underworld than is usually seen in movies; and there's no denying the charismatic quality of Hoskins' slightly mannerised and stereotypical characterisation of yer typical Cockney 'ood. But the gangsters' connections with Mafia, IRA, big business and so on, are paraded like the latest fashions rather than examined, and the admittedly well-constructed set pieces are all too often diminished in effect by the uninspired camera-work.Author: GA
User reviews of this film
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- E A Dobson said...
- Posted on Dec 29 2009 18:07 I agree it`s overrated and very badly dated unlike Get Carter which holds up very well indeed.Still worth watching especially for Hoskins & Mirren.
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Cast & crew
Director: John MacKenzie
Producer: Barry Hanson
Cast: Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Dave King, Bryan Marshall, Derek Thompson, Eddie Constantine, Brian Hall, Stephen Davis, Pierce Brosnan full cast
Genre(s): Gangsters
Rated: 18
Duration: 114 mins
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