Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.
The Long Good Friday is anchored by Bob Hoskins' towering, career-defining performance as Harold Shand — volcanic, charismatic, and ultimately tragic. The plot is tightly constructed, weaving the IRA threat, Mafia negotiations, and internal betrayal into a genuinely compelling neo-noir thriller. The ending is rightly celebrated as one of cinema's great closing shots, Hoskins' face cycling through rage, fear, and resignation in silence. Cinematography is competent and atmospheric but not especially distinguished. Novelty is solid — the film has a distinctive British voice and political edge that sets it apart from American gangster fare of the era, but it works within established genre conventions rather than reinventing them.