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Writer-director Jonathan Glazer is all about awkward conversations, whether they explore re-incarnation in Birth, personal identity through alien infiltration for Under the Skin, or Nazi occupation during World War II through the eyes of a family living with genocide in Zone of Interest, Glazer has always carved his own furrow. Even when it came down to a crime caper like Sexy Beast, he still managed to re-write the rule book and earn Sir Ben Kingsley an Oscar nomination into the bargain. Begging the question, why exactly did show runner Michael Caleo feel the need to turn that project into a limited series for Paramount+?
As it turns out, to remind audiences what a stone-cold classic Glazer created in the first place, by replacing Ray Winstone (Nil by Mouth) with James McArdle (Mare of Easttown), Sir Ben Kingsley with Emun Elliott (The Gold), and Ian McShane with Stephen Moyer (True Blood), creating a major problem in the process that remains almost impossible to overcome.
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In playing Don Logan, Kingsley became almost unrecognisable beneath the skin of this man filled with so much rage, so much anger, and so much vitriol that he simply acted everyone else off screen. Unchecked and unchallenged, Logan bullied, badmouthed, and blasphemed Gal into submission while the latter visibly wilted. Recreating that in a prequel was a big ask of any actor, let alone Emun Elliott, who valiantly embodies a younger Logan in opposition to James McArdle’s Dove. For better or worse, Sexy Beast circa 2024 lives and dies according to those two performances and they each have their own hills to climb
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What becomes painfully apparent is just how large those shadows loom when it comes to establishing this show as a separate entity, since Michael Caleo clearly loves the original and goes beyond homage in referencing key lines of dialogue and cleverly acknowledging visual cues, but rarely gets close to matching Glazer for invention as this version drifts towards pastiche. That being said, silver linings do exist in the shape of Tamsin Greig who goes off the chain in her portrayal of Cecilia Logan, chewing scenery like crazy and turning anger into an art form.
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This granite carved creation takes no prisoners and audiences will never watch Black Books the same way again, as this overbearing influence dominates her younger brother, steals scenes out from under Elliott, and goes toe to toe with McArdle leaving scorched earth in her wake. Stephen Moyer is also out for blood as Teddy Bass employing cold-blooded charisma, sexual dominance, and a ruthless streak that sees him fulfil his desire by forcing others into submission.
Those highlights aside, Sexy Beast still feels haunted by the ghost of Jonathan Glazer, who created such a landmark film with Messrs Winstone, Kingsley, and McShane, that even the eerie presence of Paul Kaye’s Stan Higgins will struggle to convince audiences this is anything other than a fictional love letter lacking its own stamp of originality.
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Sexy Beast is available to stream on Paramount+ now.