Legend (2015)
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The film follows the Kray twins' career and relationship together through their convictions for murder and sentencing to life imprisonment in 1969.
The story
In the 1960s, Reggie "Reg" Kray is a former boxer who has become an important part of the criminal underground in London. His twin brother Ron is locked in a psychiatric hospital and being treated for paranoid schizophrenia. Reggie uses threats to obtain the premature release of his brother. The twins unite their efforts to control a large part of London's criminal underworld, made easier when the head of the south London Richardson Gang ( the Torture Gang) is imprisoned. One of their first efforts is to muscle in on the control of a local nightclub, using extortion and brutal violence.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In the 1960s, Reggie "Reg" Kray, a former boxer in the London criminal underground, secures the release of his brother Ron from a psychiatric hospital. The twins unite to seize control of London's criminal underworld, beginning with a local nightclub. Reggie enters a relationship with Frances, but his inability to leave his criminal life leads to her eventual drug addiction and tragic death by overdose. The brothers' notoriety reaches the United States, leading to a deal with the Italian-American Mafia. However, Ron's volatile temperament and violence clash with Reggie's more calculated approach. After Ron's public murder of an associate leads to a police investigation, the brothers' activities continue. Following a series of internal betrayals and a fatal confrontation with a hitman, both brothers are eventually arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. They died five years apart in the late 20th century.
- First release year
- 2015
- Runtime (minutes)
- 131
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Brian Helgeland
- Writers
- Brian Helgeland · writer
- Cast and characters
- Tom Hardy · Reggie and Ron Kray; Emily Browning · Frances; David Thewlis; Christopher Eccleston; Chazz Palminteri; Duffy
- Genres
- biographical; gangster; crime thriller
- Themes
- brotherhood; addiction; violence
- Tone and mood
- gritty; violent
- Setting
- London, 1960s
- Premise and plot tags
- biographical; crime; dual role
- Source material / true-story basis
- John Pearson's 1972 book The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, though Tom Hardy's dual performance was widely praised.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 55 · scale: 100 · review count: 31
- Awards and nominations
- British Independent Film Award · Best Actor · win
- Production trivia
- Tom Hardy performed a dual role as both twins.; The film was based on a 1972 book.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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