Legend

Tom Hardy’s magnetic double-performance as infamous East End gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray commands Brian Helgeland stylish biopic.

Tom Hardy is magnetic in his BIFA-nominated double-performance as the infamous Kray brothers - entirely convincing as two distinct but equally sinister characters; the paranoid and delusional Ronnie and his more controlled, protective sibling, Reggie.

Set during the brothers’ mid-1960s heyday, Legend focuses on their attempts to control the burgeoning London nightclub scene with the use of violence and extortion. At the same time, their longing to command the kind of respect and lifestyle accorded to famous gangsters leads them into a tense deal with an American Mafioso (Chazz Palminteri). The Krays’ attempted combination of movie-style glamour and East End grit is also apparent in the story of the film’s production; the result of a collaboration between Hollywood writer-director Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River) and Britain’s own Working Title production company.