This classic British gangster drama has been on my list to review for a very long time. However, with the recent passing of Bob Hoskins, now seems as good a time as any to review The Long Good Friday, his breakthrough film - which also marks the screen debut of future James Bond star Pierce Brosnan.
Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins) is an old-school crime boss with a high-class girlfriend, Victoria (Helen Mirren), who's the actual brains behind his operation. Harold's looking to go straight, thanks to a grand plan for a real estate development venture that will net him a fortune in legal profits (as long as one overlooks his attempts to get an America-based crime syndicate to back him financially). However, just when everything seems to be coming together, his old friend Colin (Paul Freeman - who you may recognize as Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark) is murdered. More brutal attacks on his organization follow, and he has no idea why. Harold puts his organization to work finding out who is behind these assaults and why. He makes things worse for himself when he does find out but remains determined to balance the scales. I refuse to spoil the big reveal, so I'm just going to leave it at that (I'm not even going to mention the film's original title that was rejected for being too spoiler-ish).