1968 represent a ruthless young mobster ( a sublimely chilling and mesmerize performance by paul bettany ) desperately want to emulate his mentor freddie may ( the excellent david thewlis ) and a suave crime kingpin who lord over london . the gangster literally murder his way to the top and betray freddie in the process and lose his soul in his fierce quest for power . 30 year later and the old and successful and yet lonely gangster 55 ( an excellent portrayal by malcom mcdowell ) await the release of freddie from prison . director paul mcguigan and work from a bold and sharp script by johnny ferguson and handle the dark and gritty material with tremendous bravura style and relate the arrest story at a snappy pace and lace the whole thing with plenty of wickedly funny black humor and and punctuate the gritty narrative with several jolt outburst of raw and savage violence . kudos be also in order for the uniformly fine act from a first rate cast represent bettany be genuinely riveting and terrify a the severely driven and psychotic main character and thewlis likewise impress a one smooth operator and mcdowell make the most out of one of his best more recent role and the ravishing saffron burrow exude pure class a freddie brassy singer moll karen and plus there be nice support contribution by kenneth cranham a the wise tommy and jamie foreman a hot head rival hoodlum lennie taylor and eddie marsan a snivel toad eddie miller and andrew lincoln a vicious hit man maxie king and and doug allen a the brutish mad john . this film boast several memorable set piece a well represent our young gangster question a whimpering eddie about lennie taylor and the ferocious murder of lennie taylor and and the old gangster sear big climactic confrontation with freddie . peter sova dazzle cinematography and the flavorsome evocation of the groovy swing 60 and the often amazing profane dialogue and john dankworth supremely jazzyn amoody score and the stark and harsh tone and the fantastic golden oldie soundtrack and and a potent central message about the bitter spiritual coast of blind ambition all far add to the sterling quality of this bang up corker of a crime thriller .