The director Jonathan Glazer is currently touring the international awards circuit in support of his harrowing Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest.” In theory, it’s a good time to revisit the British auteur’s debut feature, especially since Glazer has only four films to his name. The 2000 crime drama “Sexy Beast,” which stars Ray Winstone as a former gangster dragged out of his post-prison retirement in Spain, in fact holds up quite well — a compact, funny, philosophical take on the past’s refusal to stay in the past. But the film’s new adaptation, an eight-episode series of the same name on Paramount+, never escapes its predecessor’s shadow.
This “Sexy Beast” is a straightforward prequel, swapping James McArdle in for Winstone as a younger version of Gal, a native son of London’s East End who makes his living as a small-time thief. Gal’s literal partner in crime is his childhood friend Don (Emun Elliott), who fans may remember as Ben Kingsley’s ferocious, foul-mouthed intruder into Gal’s Spanish idyll. Developed by “The Sopranos” writer Michael Caleo, “Sexy Beast” traces the lead-up to Gal’s falling out with Don, time behind bars and marriage to Deedee (Sarah Greene), who will eventually follow him to the Iberian Peninsula.
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It’s possible Caleo was primarily interested in the post-Thatcher London underworld and saw the “Sexy Beast” concept as his way in. When it’s harder than ever to get the greenlight for original ideas, some great shows have begun this way. (Peacock’s gone-too-soon reboot of “Saved by the Bell” was a Tina Fey-produced school sitcom that just happened to star Mario Lopez.) But “Sexy Beast” instead dedicates itself to filling in backstory and answering questions that have likely never occurred to fans of the original, let alone newcomers only just encountering these characters. The second group is likely to far outnumber the first; while “Sexy Beast” is remembered fondly, it was hardly a smash hit, grossing a modest $10 million at the box office in its initial release.
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To speak in “I” statements: I’ve never wondered what drove Gal to a life of crime, or what his love life was like before he met Deedee. (The answers are his father’s gambling debts and a doomed engagement, respectively.) I’ve never wondered about Don’s background or family life. (He was raised by his much older sister Cecilia, an arcade owner played by a ferocious Tamsin Greig.) I’ve never cared to see more of Deedee’s former life as an adult film star. (It involves a desire for agency that plays like a diluted version of “The Deuce.”) And for every minute “Sexy Beast” spends on these storylines, it saps more of the tension and slick economy that help make for a great heist narrative.
The original “Sexy Beast” was never about plot to begin with. Coming from the world of music videos and working from a script by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, Glazer created arresting images like a boulder crashing into Gal’s swimming pool or a safe-cracking scene set entirely underwater. (Why? Because it looked cool, logic be damned.) Above all, it was about a vibe, and in turning its focus to the details of where Gal, Don and Deedee come from, the prequel neglects the sheer style of its inspiration for the far less compelling logistics. With the need to fill runtime with exposition and story, television can encourage these tendencies, though they’re not insurmountable. But for every “Dead Ringers,” there’s a cautionary tale like “Sexy Beast,” which suggests not every concept works in every medium.
Gal and Don are called up from the small time by their handler Teddy (Stephen Moyer), another carryover from the film. McArdle is affable enough as a hustler with a heart of gold, while Elliott is forced to attempt the impossible feat of recreating Kingsley’s verbal barrage, which likely set a cinematic record for uses of the C-word per minute. Moyer, at least, brings a reptilian menace that’s distinct from Ian McShane’s bemused stoicism in the 2000 version. Teddy recruits Gal and Don to steal a valuable gem of Indian origin from aristocrat Stephen Eaton (Julian Rhind-Tutt), introducing a Robin Hood-style populism that’s the closest thing “Sexy Beast” has to its own identity. “They’re the real fucking gangsters,” Teddy says of Eaton’s ilk — not the most original framing, but one that could set up a compelling mission.
Unfortunately, Teddy is also the perpetrator of a graphic sexual assault that concludes the second episode, just one instance of the sensational violence that crowds out the more intriguing aspects of “Sexy Beast.” The abstract dread of the more restrained movie is here replaced by multiple brutal beatings. Ironically, upping the gore only blunts the increasingly jaded viewer’s response over time. “Sexy Beast” is often so preoccupied with adding emotional and physical stakes that the show distracts from a criminal gang’s simple quest to stick it to the man. Less is more, as they say — and in some attempts to turn a one-off into a franchise, more is less.
The first three episodes of “Sexy Beast” are now streaming on Paramount+, with remaining episodes streaming weekly on Thursdays.
