Legend

I swear that when it comes Black mothers, there is not a scarier species that exists on this planet! I can say this because my mother is Black and I see first hand how she treats anyone who attempts to mess with her family. She was like the modern day version of Old Yeller or Cujo when she had to be and anyone who lived in my small hometown knew it. Thankfully she's just a mellow cookie baking grandmother now but believe me when I say that she's merely trying to bake her way into Heaven now that both of her sons are grown up.

The funny thing is, the bigger they are, the scarier they come. My mom was always a fairly slender woman, so she had to use her quick wit to help with the intimidation factor. But I had a few friends whose mothers were not all that trim and boy did they ever bite if you put them to the test. And don't be fooled by their size either, they can move with the best of them when they want to. You ever watch the NFL or NBA draft? You see those players' mothers? They're all huge but I can certainly bet you that those kids all got their athleticism from their mothers!

Now I said all of that to say this, after watching Legend, I am now going to have to give Reggie Kray's mother in law an honorary Black mother membership card because that woman was certifiably cray (no pun intended). Anytime a crime lord is afraid to enter your house and you wear all black to your daughter's wedding because you don't approve, that's gangster!

But that's what this movie was all about, the rise and fall of the Kray twins through the eyes of Reggie's wife Frances Shea (Emily Browning). If you are not familiar with Ronald and Reggie Kray, they were two of London's toughest twins and they happened to control all of the illegal activity that took place in Great Britain's capital in the 1960's. Reggie was the smooth, good looking, and business savvy twin while Ronald was the crazy, schizophrenic, openly gay but brutal brother who was the notorious loose cannon of the two.

This movie however thankfully bucks the traditional gangster movie trend and doesn't spend too much time getting into the details of all of their illegal dealings. It instead puts its focus squarely on how their personalities affected their business, their personal growth, and the lives of the people that came into contact with them. You also see how, while they do look alike, the gaping differences in their personalities led to an almost daily tension between the two and ultimately kept them from reigning for an even longer period of time than they did.

Hardy is amazing as usual playing both Ronald and Reggie as he nails both characters without ever really resorting to any over the top antics to do so. I mean, Ronald was schizophrenic so he had his moments but you never felt as though you were watching Al Pacino scream every line like he did in Heat. "Give it all you got! Give it all you got!!!!!" His performance should at least earn him a few Golden Globe nods as he is clearly the most talented actor in Hollywood today.

And since when did Emily Browning grow up? Wasn't she just in Lemony Snicket's a few years ago? She's magnificent as the ever hopeful and smitten Frances. You can't help but feel for her as she drops one of the film's most memorable lines "The hate I have for both of them could only come from a place of love."

Every time you feel as though the movie hits a bit of a lull, Ronald does something crazy to liven things up a bit. And after seeing a slew of American gangster films, it was a bit refreshing to get a little bit of insight as to how things are done on the other side of the pond.

I rate this movie as FRESH and strongly suggest that you pop in.