The Long Good Friday

R

Released Apr 2, 1982

1 hr. 54 min.

Crime

Drama

List

97%

30 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins), 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.

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Critics Consensus

Bob Hoskins commands a deviously sinister performance in The Long Good Friday -- a gangster flick with ferocious intelligence, tight plotting and razor-edged thrills.

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Nicolas M

C+ script. A+ Bob Hoskins. A phenomenal performance.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/11/24

Full Review

Alec C

One of the most brutal and unflinching gangster films that have ever taken place in good ol' London! Bob Hoskins plays the conflicted crime lord struggling to go legit as an unknown enemy strikes from the shadows. With bombings and blood, this is a film where no one is safe from death.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/12/23

Full Review

john w

I've not seen a better British gangster movie, it's simply a masterpiece of its time, I watched it on its video release 40 odd yrs ago and loved it, I watched it again today and it's just as compelling, fresh and intelligent as it was back then.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/18/23

Full Review

Nawt W

Everything brilliant Bob Hoskins built over decades crumbles in a matter of days in one of the greatest gangster movies. Harold, an incredibly fleshed-out character who candidly believes he is above gangster wars and is about to transition from a two-bit mafioso to a semi-legitimate entrepreneur, and the fact that there are some organizations that are in any degree above him in terms of threat or reach simply does not occur to him. How could it? He is paying off everyone. Who could dare to assault him like that? The way the story unfolds is exceptional, and the finale will stay with you for a very long time. The soundtrack is enthralling to the point that whenever I walk into an airport, I have "Taken" playing in my head on a loop. What else can I say apart from this criticism? The opening montage of events that are supposed to make sense in the long run is so far removed from the reveal that almost anyone could forget what a catalyst was and what Jeff did wrong.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Vicious and simple premise that works and has aged well. That said it's nice to see early 80s London depicted just before the boomtown years of growth that followed. They got it right in the film, it was just at the point that London was about to go on an upward trajectory and become the capital of Europe. One for the Brexiteers to watch and wake up to.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

KARL O

The greatest British gangster movie of all. A period piece now. It only gets better over time. Final scene is my favorite piece of acting ever!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/02/22

Full Review

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John Mackenzie

Director

Bob Hoskins

Harold Shand

Helen Mirren

Victoria

Eddie Constantine

Charlie

Dave King

Parky

Bryan Marshall

Harris

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David Jenkins

Little White Lies

The simple, almost Shakespearean moral is that nefarious deeds breed a climate of contempt, and that any success will always be tainted.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 23, 2015

Full Review

Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Sheer brilliance.

Rated: 5/5

Jun 21, 2015

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Hoskins' bullish, black-comic Napoleonism makes this movie: pugnacious, sentimental, a cockney Cagney.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 18, 2015

Full Review

Tom Cassidy

Common Sense Media

Without The Long Good Friday, it's hard to imagine the likes of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels existing. To its credit, the film still feels fresh despite its legacy in the movies that followed.

May 30, 2023

Full Review

Matthew Pejkovic

Matt's Movie Reviews

Packs a punch with its twist filled exploration into crime and industry in late-1970s London, led by a mighty Bob Hoskins in his breakthrough role.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 7, 2021

Full Review

Peter Ackroyd

The Spectator

The film lingers in the mind as an exposure of one man's illusions about himself and his world. Reality intrudes upon him like the hands around someone's neck.

Mar 27, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins), 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.

Director: John Mackenzie
Executive Producer: George Harrison, Denis O'Brien
Screenwriter: Barrie Keeffe
Distributor: Criterion Collection, Paragon Video, Embassy Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 2, 1982, Wide
Release Date (DVD): Nov 24, 1998
Sound Mix: Mono

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