'' (
2001 ) is a
British Film directed by
Jonathan Glazer , starring
Ray Winstone ,
Ben Kingsley and
Ian McShane . It was Glazer's debut feature film, having previously been a director of music videos, such as "Rabbit In Your Headlights" for British
Electronica group
UNKLE .
The film earned Kingsley an
Oscar nomination for
Best Supporting Actor . In 2004 the magazine ''
Total Film '' named ''Sexy Beast'' the 15th greatest British film of all time.
Ex-con and expert safecracker Gary "Gal" Dove has served his time behind bars and blissfully retired to a Spanish villa with his beloved wife, Deedee. He also has the company of longtime friend Aitch and his wife, Jackie. Their idyll is shattered by the arrival of an old criminal associate, the angry and unstable Don Logan. On the Region 1 DVD commentary for the movie, Kingsley summarized Logan as "the unhappiest man in the world." Kingsley based his performance in part on his grandmother, whom he described as "an extremely violent and unpleasant woman."http://seemagazine.com/Issues/2001/0621/screen3.htm
Don is intent on enlisting Gal in a bank heist back in
London . As Gal meekly but stubbornly refuses Don's many requests to join the heist, Don becomes embittered by Gal's happiness and feels that the group has abandoned him. After revealing a lingering infatuation with Jackie, he makes several unwelcome attempts at reconnecting with her. As the confrontations between Don and Gal escalate, Don grows violent. He hurls torrents of abuse at the group while at the same time spitefully painting himself as a victim of their infidelity. After finally storming away in a rage, Don is kicked off of his plane and returns to Gal's home with the intention of murdering him. Instead, Deedee surprises him with a rifle and the entire group combines their efforts to kill him.
With Don murdered, Gal is forced to return to grim and rainy London to perform the job as if nothing has happened. Teddy Bass, a powerful crimelord, has organized the heist after learning about the bank from Harry, a banker who had sex with him at an orgy. Gal feigns ignorance over Don's fate, but Teddy is immediately suspicious. Gal now fears both getting caught by the police and being killed by Teddy. Since Don's arrival, Gal's anxiety has manifested in strange dreams where he is menaced by a humanoid rabbit, which echo a disastrous hunting trip earlier in the film.
During the heist, Teddy's gangsters don
Scuba gear and drill into Harry's bank vault from a pool in a neighbouring
Bath House . The water from the pool floods the vault and shorts its security system. While helping to empty the vault's
Safe Deposit Box es, Gal secretly pockets a pair of large diamond earrings. After the job is successfully completed, Teddy forces Gal to accompany him to kill Harry. Though Teddy has realized that Gal killed Don, he does not care enough about Don to kill Gal in vengeance. Instead, he forces Gal to forfeit his share of the loot and banishes him from London.
Gal returns safely home and his paradise is restored. Deedee wears the diamond earrings that Gal stole, and it is revealed that Don is buried under the double-heart insignia at the bottom of their pool, which had been damaged just prior to Don's arrival.
- as '''Gary "Gal" Dove''', a retired English safecracker living in Spain after serving a lengthy prison sentence.
- as '''Don Logan''', a sociopathic gangster who is embittered by Gal's happiness
- as '''Teddy Bass''', a powerful crimelord called "Mr. Black Magic" who organizes the bank heist
- as '''Deedee Dove''', Gal's beloved wife, a retired Pornstar once known as "Dirty Deedee"
- as '''Harry''', a bisexual banker who is overconfident of his vault's security
- as '''Aitch''', Gal's friend, a retired gangster who spins humorous stories
- as '''Jackie''', Aitch's wife, who had a brief fling with Don many years ago
- as '''Enrique''', a Spanish boy who helps Gal out around the house
- This film marked the final screen role of Cavan Kendall .
- Along with '' Donnie Darko '', this was the second major film released in 2001 to prominently feature a menacing, anthropomorphic rabbit.
- The music during the bank vault infiltration scene previously appeared in the "surfer" Guinness advert, also directed by Jonathan Glazer.
- Angerfist samples several lines from the movie in the song "Yes", from the album '' Pissin' Razorbladez ''.
The film has received
Critical raves for its excellent performances and characterisation, which elevate it above conventional British gangster capers. It received high praise from writers at the ''
San Francisco Chronicle '', ''
Entertainment Weekly '', ''
Slate '', ''
Rolling Stone '' and the ''
Los Angeles Times '', but it was panned by the ''
Washington Post '' as "Ben Kingsley spraying saliva-lubricated variants of the
F-word into the atmosphere like anti-aircraft fire for 10 solid minutes." It was also described as "massively uneven" by ''
Variety ''.
