Scary saint

>> Ben Kingsley terrifies in superb Sexy Beast

by MARK SLUTSKY

Though Jonathan Glazer's Sexy Beast is a movie of many merits, undoubtedly the one that will stick most indelibly in the viewer's mind is the coiled, super-intense, scary-as-hell performance given by, well, Ben Kingsley. Seriously.

Yes, the man who once played the saintly Mahatma Gandhi pulls off one of those crazy image-reversing career moves that'll probably forever efface his image as a benevolent little man.

Kingsley is Don Logan (and is the right word here--this is one of those performances where even the actor's body seems to have changed to suit the character) in Sexy Beast, an East End London crime type sent by his superiors to sunny Spain to recruit a retired ex-gangster, Gal Dove (Ray Winstone), for a last job. Kingsley's not the main character here--it's really Winstone's story--but Kingsley's supplies the heart of the story, the centre around which all of the other characters warily orbit.

Winstone, we gather, has been having a fairly contented time down in Spain with his wife DeeDee (Amanda Redman), an ex-porn-actress. He hangs out by his pool, greased-up and Speedo-clad, baking in the sun and hanging out with a couple of other ex-gangster buddies. When news of Kingsley's impending arrival comes, everything about their tone changes. They're terrified, and with good reason. Kingsley's Don Logan is a ball of rage, a wiry and terrifyingly tightly bundled package of controlled fury who seems likely to explode in mania at the slightest provocation. Even the stiff, hyper-alert way he sits in a chair is scary.

When Winstone resists his offer to take part in a complicated bank heist, Kingsley finally loses it. He screams at him, badgers him, pisses on his floor, jumps into his bed in the morning. It's to Winstone's credit as an actor that he really holds his own in these scenes with Kingsley. His character is pretty intriguing--a little soft, but determined as Kingsley in his own way.

The second half of Sexy Beast takes place back in London, where the heist (an underwater escapade) takes place. Although this part of the movie is quite well done and gripping in its own way, it's the first half that sticks the most. A slick, well-done and totally compelling crime flick, Sexy Beast is one of the best and most unusual movies of the year.

Sexy Beast opens Friday, Nov. 2