Gangster No. 1 poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Saffron Burrows, Kenneth Cranham ... see more see more... , Razaaq Adoti , Johnny Harris , David Kennedy , Andrew Lincoln , Jamie Forman , Sean Chapman , Tony Denham , Arthur Nightingale , Don McCorkindale , Emma Griffiths Malin , Gary McCormack , Caroline Pegg , Martyn Read , Eddie Marsan , Jo McInnes , Cavan Clerkin , Jamie Foreman

A portrait of a cold-blooded young gangster living and loathing in 1960s London, this drama features Malcolm McDowell in a major role in his first British picture in years. McDowell opens the film as ... read more read more...the present day Gangster 55, who learns that an old associate, gangster Freddie Mays (David Thewlis), has just been released from prison after serving a 30-year sentence. The story then flashes back to 1968, when the young Gangster 55 (Paul Bettany) makes Mays' acquaintance and subsequently wins his trust by dealing with his enemies from a rival gang. The relationship between the two men is threatened when Mays falls for Karen (Saffron Burrows), a no-nonsense dancer. When 55 learns that Lennie (Jamie Foreman), a rival gang leader, plans to ambush Mays and Karen one night, he pits the two gangs against one another so that he can emerge as Gangster No. 1. The film was directed by Paul McGuigan, who previously examined the crusty underbelly of British society with his screen adaptation of Irvine Welsh's The Acid House (1998). ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Flixster Users

76% liked it

8,400 ratings

Critics

73% liked it

51 critics

R, 1 hr. 43 min.

Directed by: Paul McGuigan

Release Date: January 1, 2000

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: October 8, 2002

Get It:

Stats: 702 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Gangster No. 1
Upload a Photo | View All Gangster No. 1 Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (702)

  • djdemersseman
    November 14, 2011
    djdemersseman
    Gangster No. 1 will never be the no. 1 gangster film, if nothing else, because its title sucks, but it's got its charm. Paul Bettany plays a very believable psychotic mastermind, and Malcolm McDowell plays, well, a very believable psychotic mastermind all grown up. Plus, there's ... read morea lot of cool, well-shot violence. Lot of well-made sets and costumes, too. But the story is pretty predictable, mostly believable but certainly predictable.
  • blkbomb
    August 13, 2011
    blkbomb
    Gangster 55: I'm Superman! King fucking Kong! I can pick you up and throw you a million miles. I'm number one. 

    "It's not who you know, it's who you kill."

    I'll admit it did take me awhile to warm up to Gangster No. 1, but it did turn out to be a really good English Gangster fi... read morelm. What won me over were the performances by Paul Bettany, Malcolm McDowell and David Thewlis. Each of those actors gave an outstanding performance. The movie chronicles the rise and fall of Gangster No. 55, played by Paul Bettany when he's young and Malcolm McDowell when he's old. Both actors really sell the character and make the Gangster a very interesting character. I always enjoy watching Malcolm McDowell and he gives a sinister performance. He also does an extremely good voice over throughout the entire movie. Bettany is equally sinister and really makes the movie.

    Gangster No. 1 or as I prefer, The Gangster with No Name, does have it's flaws though. Many times the film comes of as an exercise in style of substance. It uses a lot of different editing techniques that I don't think helps the movie at all. If anything, I believe it hurts it. Like I said it did take me awhile to get into the movie. It didn't really become captivating until half way through, but from there on out it really is a great movie. Honestly I almost turned it off a few times in the firs 45 minutes, but I'm really glad a gave it a shot.

    It's not going to be a gangster classic by any means. It borrows from a lot of previous films, but in the end it does separate it's self from all of them. It's a cool, stylistic and well-acted movie. 
  • itsjustme2004
    December 24, 2010
    itsjustme2004
    I liked it for the extraordinary talents of Paul Bettany, who turned in one outstanding performance, as usual. It's an otherwise muddled mess the latter fourth of the film, however, when 25 years later an aged Bettany morphed into into Malcolm McDowell?? The logic ot that totally... read more messed up the film for me. But, all in all, Bettany makes it worth the watch...because, let's face it...he is the bomb! :)
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    March 28, 2010
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "There can only be ONE."

    Chronicles the rise and fall of a prominent, and particularly ruthless English gangster.

    REVIEW

    What a mug! The evil-harlequin mask of Malcolm McDowell, so familiar fro... read morem those bugeyed closeups of him "mounching lumpchiks of toast" in A Clockwork Orange, has aged into a fabulous ruin. And one of the pleasures of the glib, slick, cocky, brutal, shallow, and terrifically entertaining Gangster No. 1 is in the realization that McDowell is the same McDowell--his voiceover has the same energetic sneer it had 31 years ago in Clockwork. He's the same guy under a withered and weathered facade. As Gangster No. 1--a sociopath with a schoolgirl crush on his boss, spit-shined David Thewlis--McDowell brings you into the succulent pleasures of aged corruption and long-swallowed brutality. No. 1's nuttiness--a kind of belch of guilt, generally released in Francis Bacon-derivative silent screams--seems, for a while, like fun. Paul Bettany, playing Young No. 1, has a great, lizardlike, histrionic deadpan--he keeps telling his victims "Look into my eyes!" as if something scary and deep were hidden there. (Instead, there is zero--an effect Young No. 1 may be unaware of.) The movie takes such a jaunty and directorially piquant view of its own shin-kicking nihilism that you can't help but play along; until the moralizing but utterly earned finale sets you on your ear.

    Not deep stuff--not even as deep as the superbly unself-reflective head-smackers who made up Goodfellas' crew. But Saffron Burrows, as a Cockney chanteuse who's mad in love with Thewlis' Mr. Big, brings you back to the days of much-posher-and-prettier-than-their-parts British character actresses. And the director, Paul McGuigan, and Bettany keep the joint jumpin'.
  • SirPant
    September 29, 2009
    SirPant
    Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis & Paul Bettany on top form. Not to mention Paul McGuigan?s great direction! Top British gangster film!
  • rubystevens
    July 27, 2009
    rubystevens
    pretty enjoyable tale of the rise of a ruthless gangster in sixties mod london. the director's frenetic style is kind of annoying tho he's obviously cribbed some tricks from scorsese and guy ritchie. i gotta put this a notch below sexy beast and layer cake in spite of a few pow... read moreerful scenes and the great work of bettany and thewlis. and mad malcolm is always worth watching :)
  • briandeguelle
    December 31, 2008
    briandeguelle
    Yet another British Gangster movie.Seen it all before and we british can make and do better movies!!
  • pier007
    August 10, 2008
    pier007
    No matter how much I enjoy these performers, this genre, Malcolm McDowell's deliciously sinister voice over, and the swingin' sixties period where most of the story takes place, I just can't hide the deficiencies of this reasonably entertaining British gangster flick.
    What seeme... read mored to be promising was suddenly sunk by the incompetent Paul McGuigan and his artsy, video clip directing style. I was willing to forgive the man and enjoy the story, but I find out it wasn't too good either. I felt that great actors like David Thewlis, Paul Bettany and the mentioned McDowell weren't properly used, they were all like mere set pieces immerse in a sea of overused topics.
  • 76Majikat
    October 20, 2007
    76Majikat
    Great perfromances by Paul Bettany and Malcolm McDowell sharing the lead role as younger and older versions of a psychotic gangester.

    Quite a different angle from most British Grangster films and is really aimed at the obsession of becoming the top dog at any cost.

    VERDICT:... read more If you like your ganster style films, then this is one that needs to be on your list. If you're sensitvie to strong language, give this film a wide birth.
  • drago25
    April 16, 2007
    drago25
    I blind bought this film on DVD the other day, after a recommendation from a friend and after looking at the case and realizing Malcolm Fucking McDowell was in it!! Anyway, this is a supremely cool, ultra stylistic (and at times, brutal) look at the life of a British gangster (a... read mores an older man, played by McDowell, and for the majority of the film by Paul Bettany, as a younger man), who lives in the shadow of and eventually usurps power from the ultra smooth Freddy Mays (David Thewlis). Just to take care of the bad first, the one thing I didn't like about the film is the inconsistency - the directing technique was packed with jazz and style (a little much at times) and all sorts of different techniques, but then the filmmaker just sort of turned this off for the second half of the film, and it became a much more stylistically grounded and brutal film. The whole flashback (which comprises 90% of the film) was sporadically narrated by McDowell from the present, although it was more of a commentary than a narrative, this also worked sometimes and not sometimes. Other than that though, this was a really cool film for people who love gangster films. I dug the story of the man living in the shadow of his master, who becomes totally consumed with trying to become him, until he gets to the point where he has forgot himself. The performances of both McDowell and Bettany were absolutely phenomenal. I was never very familiar with Paul Bettany's work before now but I want to see more of him, because he awesome here, totally and utterly deadly. I am so glad to see McDowell in another really good role like this, too. Overall, this is a somewhat flawed, but still very good film, and it would be highly enjoyed by anyone into the gangster genre, if you are, check it the fuck out.

View All Gangster No. 1 Reviews

Critic Reviews

Chris Vognar
September 12, 2002
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News

Director Paul McGuigan and cast infuse the proceedings with a strong dose of psychotic gusto and visual flare. Full Review

Edward Guthmann
July 26, 2002
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

Doesn't offer much besides glib soullessness, raunchy language and a series of brutal set pieces ... that raise the bar on stylized screen violence. Full Review

Roger Ebert
July 19, 2002
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The film has a kind of hard, cold effect. Full Review

Kevin Thomas
July 11, 2002
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Gangster No. 1 is solid, satisfying fare for adults. Full Review

Jan Stuart
June 14, 2002
Jan Stuart, Newsday

They crush each other under cars, throw each other out windows, electrocute and dismember their victims in full consciousness. And we don't avert our eyes for a moment. Full Review

Megan Turner
June 14, 2002
Megan Turner, New York Post

It's more than a rip-off of Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but less than the Pulp Fiction-esque genre-bender it aspires to be.

Elvis Mitchell
June 13, 2002
Elvis Mitchell, New York Times

Certainly the performances are worthwhile. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
June 13, 2002
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Seeks to transcend its genre with a curiously stylized, quasi-Shakespearean portrait of pure misogynist evil. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
June 13, 2002
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

A canny, derivative, wildly gruesome portrait of a London sociopath who's the scariest of sadists. Full Review

Michael Atkinson
June 11, 2002
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

As happily glib and vicious as its characters. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • London Boulevard
    London Boulevard (99%)
  • Insidious
    Insidious (98%)
  • Layer Cake
    Layer Cake (65%)
  • Wicker Park
    Wicker Park (33%)

More Movies like Gangster No. 1

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Gangster No. 1 : Watch Free on TV

Gangster No. 1 Trivia

  • What actor links the following films? Mission: Impossible III V for Vendetta Miami Vice (2006) 21 Grams Gangster No. 1  Answer »
  • Who played Paul Bettany's older self in Gangster No. 1?  Answer »
  • Which actor starred in Attack Force, Fifth Element, Shiner and Gangster No 1?  Answer »
  • In which movie Paul Bettany and Malcolm McDowell play the same character but in different years?  Answer »
More Gangster No. 1 Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Gangster No. 1. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Gangster No. 1 to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

Canmint Skin by Canmint
219 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins