** out of ****
Tom Hardy’s a fine actor and writer-director Brian Helgeland wrote the classic film noir L.A. Confidential, but their collaboration on the British gangster biopic Legend fails to live up to its potential. Set in 1960s London, Legend tells the true story of the Kray twins (Hardy). They’re small-time mobsters who work their way up the underworld food chain. Even to those unfamiliar with the real-life exploits of the Krays, the story will seem familiar. And unfortunately, nothing about Helgeland’s script or direction breathes new life into the formula. There’s an interesting idea at play in having Reginald Kray’s wife (Emily Browning) narrate the film. But her take on events disappears for long stretches and the device ends up feeling more like a gimmick instead of a fresh take on old material. The movie plods along for 131 minutes, never really hitting its stride. There’s an interesting subplot involving the blackmail of a government official, but the movie is in too much of a hurry to try and connect the dots of the Krays’ biography to explore it further. In the end, Legend, despite a typically charismatic performance from its star, feels like warmed-over Scorsese.
