# Gangster No. 1
**Gangster No. 1** is a 2000 British crime film directed by Paul McGuigan, telling the story of an unnamed gangster who rises through the London underworld and betrays his mentor, the crime boss Freddie Mays. [Malcolm McDowell](https://www.edgepedia.org/malcolm-mcdowell) plays the older Gangster (credited as Gangster 55), [Paul Bettany](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-bettany) plays the young Gangster, and [David Thewlis](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-thewlis) plays Freddie Mays, with Saffron Burrows and Kenneth Cranham in supporting roles.[1](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/92348--gangster-no-1/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Paul McGuigan; screenplay by Johnny Ferguson, adapted from the 1995 stage play by Louis Mellis and David Scinto[3](https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/screenwriter-for-whom-the-green-light-still-shines-1.1374053) • [4](https://www.timeout.com/movies/gangster-no-1) |
| Lead cast | Malcolm McDowell (Gangster 55), Paul Bettany (Young Gangster), David Thewlis (Freddie Mays), Saffron Burrows (Karen), Kenneth Cranham (Tommy)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1) |
| Setting | London in 1968 and the present day, told mainly in flashback[5](https://protagonistpictures.com/film/gangster-no-1/) • [1](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/92348--gangster-no-1/) |
| Runtime / rating | 103 minutes; rated R in the United States for pervasive language, nudity, brief drug use, and strong brutal violence[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1) |
| Release | United Kingdom June 2000; United States theatrical release June 14, 2002 through IFC Films, with a US gross of $30.9K[6](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/gangster-no-11) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1) |
| Reception | 71% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (52 reviews) and 77% from audiences; Metascore 60 on Metacritic[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/gangster-no-1/critic-reviews/) |
| Awards | AFI Fest 2000 Vision Award in Cinematography for Peter Sova; British Independent Film Award nominations for Best Actor (Bettany), Best Screenplay, and Best Achievement in Production[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210065/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film opens in the present day at a ringside table at a boxing match in a deluxe London hotel, where the older Gangster (Malcolm McDowell) presides as the undisputed king of London's gangland. He learns that Freddie Mays, his old boss and mentor, is being released from prison after serving 30 years for murder, and the news stirs up old emotions.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1)
The story then moves to 1968, at the height of Freddie's reign. The young Gangster (Paul Bettany) is hand-picked by the suave and sinister Freddie and rises quickly into the inner circle of his crime syndicate, developing an obsession with Freddie and his opulent lifestyle. When Freddie meets nightclub singer Karen ([Saffron Burrows](https://www.edgepedia.org/saffron-burrows)), the jealous Gangster turns toward revenge.[1](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/92348--gangster-no-1/) Freddie is locked in a feud with a gangland rival, Lennie Taylor ([Jamie Foreman](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamie-foreman)); on discovering that an attack on Freddie and Karen is being planned, the young Gangster travels to the site, remains in his vehicle, and observes the event as though it were a play.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gangster-no-1-2002) The film ends with a final exchange between the two men, followed by a coda of the older gangster on a rooftop.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gangster-no-1-2002)
## Production
Johnny Ferguson, an Irish screenwriter from Glenageary, County Dublin, adapted the script from the original 1995 stage play by Louis Mellis and David Scinto. The film arrived at the tail end of the trend for "London geezer-gangster" films in the [Guy Ritchie](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-ritchie) mold, and earned Ferguson a nomination for best screenplay at the British Independent Film Awards.[3](https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/screenwriter-for-whom-the-green-light-still-shines-1.1374053) It was McGuigan's first full-length feature after his award-winning trilogy of shorts *[The Acid House](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-acid-house)*, and it was released in the UK in June 2000 to critical acclaim.[6](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/gangster-no-11)
**Authenticity consultant.** [Bruce Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-reynolds), the thief who masterminded the 1963 Great Train Robbery and later served 10 years of a 25-year sentence for it, worked as a special consultant on the project. McGuigan said Reynolds's inside knowledge and sense of authenticity were a big help, including on the language of the piece.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jun/09/4)
**Design and crew.** Production designer Richard Bridgland recreated 1960s London for the substantial flashback portion, responding to what he called the "mythic quality" of the script; he and McGuigan searched for "1960s modern" locations in hotels, clubs, and flats around London, and interior sets were constructed in Berlin's Babelsberg Studios.[6](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/gangster-no-11) • [11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jun/09/5) Costume designer Jany Temime dressed the men in sharp suits from tailors such as Mark Powell and Ozwald Boateng. Peter Sova was the director of photography, John Dankworth composed the score, and the producers were Norma Heyman and [Jonathan Cavendish](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-cavendish).[6](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/gangster-no-11) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1)
## Style and violence
McGuigan's visual style films the gangsters in slow motion, bathes them in lush colors, and filters their violence through fractured lenses.[1](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/92348--gangster-no-1/) The film is known for its brutality. Peter Bradshaw of *The Guardian* described its central scene, the young gangster's sadistic violence against a rival boss meted out with an ironmonger's tools, as claustrophobic and disgusting, and argued that McGuigan suggests the gangster film works as a species of horror film rather than as action movie or black comedy.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jun/09/5) Roger Ebert noted a beating of startling brutality scored by a pop song played at top volume.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gangster-no-1-2002) The *Hot Press* review called it possibly the most foul-mouthed film ever made, with dialogue drenched in Cockney vernacular.[12](https://www.hotpress.com/culture/gangster-no1-441991)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to positive. On Rotten Tomatoes the critics' consensus reads "Gangster No. 1 is brutally violent, yet also compelling," with a 71% Tomatometer from 52 reviews and a 77% audience score from more than 5,000 ratings.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1) Metacritic recorded a Metascore of 60, labeled mixed or average.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/gangster-no-1/critic-reviews/) Kevin Thomas of the *Los Angeles Times* found it taut, corrosive, and compelling, with the galvanic appeal of *Little Caesar* and *Scarface*; A.O. Scott of *The New York Times* praised its charged emotional atmosphere; Peter Travers of *Rolling Stone* singled out Bettany's performance, writing "You'll know a star when you see one."[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/gangster-no-1/critic-reviews/) Ebert gave it a mixed review, judging the conclusion too pat but noting the film's hard, cold effect.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/gangster-no-1/critic-reviews/) Time Out's review acknowledged the film's power while finding something repellent and self-serving in its "beady sadism and calculated moral fixing."[4](https://www.timeout.com/movies/gangster-no-1)
**Marketing friction.** The distributor FilmFour tried to pitch the film as a spin-off of Ritchie's *Lock, Stock* by asking Bettany to read a celebratory trailer line, "We're gangsters!" Bettany objected, saying the filmmakers had tried to make an adult film about violence without glorifying it, and that no one who went in expecting a lads' movie could have come out satisfied.[13](https://doras.dcu.ie/17114/1/debbie_ging_20120702143056.pdf)
## Awards and legacy
The film won the Vision Award in [Cinematography](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinematography) at AFI Fest 2000 for Peter Sova and was nominated for the festival's Grand Jury Prize. At the British Independent Film Awards it received nominations for Best Actor (Paul Bettany), Best Screenplay (Johnny Ferguson), and Best Achievement in Production, and Bettany was also nominated for British Newcomer of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards. It competed for the Golden Hitchcock at the Dinard British Film Festival and for the European Discovery award at the [European Film Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-film-awards).[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210065/awards/) • [5](https://protagonistpictures.com/film/gangster-no-1/) It also screened in the International Competition at AFI FEST 2000, where AFI's notes highlighted Bettany's "brilliantly eerie star-making performance."[14](https://fest.afi.com/2000/international-competition-2000/gangster-no-1/)
The film has since been grouped with other British crime pictures of its period, such as *Sexy Beast*, as part of a late-1990s and early-2000s wave of British gangster films, and it is frequently cited in discussions of the genre's most violent entries.[15](https://www.filmcomment.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2000s2001VOLUME-37-NUMBER-01-JAN-FEB-2001.pdf) • [16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210065/news/) As of late 2026 it streams on Prime Video in five countries including the UK and Ireland, but not in the United States.[17](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/gangster-no-1-2000-10394)
## References
1. [Gangster no. 1, ACMI collection](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/92348--gangster-no-1/)
2. [Gangster No. 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangster-no-1)
3. [Screenwriter for whom the green light still shines, The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/screenwriter-for-whom-the-green-light-still-shines-1.1374053)
4. [Gangster No.1 film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/gangster-no-1)
5. [Gangster No 1, Protagonist Pictures](https://protagonistpictures.com/film/gangster-no-1/)
6. [Gangster No 1, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/gangster-no-11)
7. [Gangster No. 1 critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/gangster-no-1/critic-reviews/)
8. [Gangster No. 1 (2000) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210065/awards/)
9. [Gangster No. 1 movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gangster-no-1-2002)
10. ['To talk about violence is to talk about the history of the world', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jun/09/4)
11. [Gangster No 1 review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jun/09/5)
12. [GANGSTER No.1, Hot Press](https://www.hotpress.com/culture/gangster-no1-441991)
13. [Debbie Ging, academic chapter citing Paul Bettany on the film's marketing, DCU](https://doras.dcu.ie/17114/1/debbie_ging_20120702143056.pdf)
14. [GANGSTER NO. 1, AFI FEST 2000](https://fest.afi.com/2000/international-competition-2000/gangster-no-1/)
15. [Film Comment, Vol. 37 No. 1, Jan-Feb 2001](https://www.filmcomment.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2000s2001VOLUME-37-NUMBER-01-JAN-FEB-2001.pdf)
16. [Gangster No. 1 (2000) News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210065/news/)
17. [Where to watch Gangster No. 1 (2000), FlickFinder](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/gangster-no-1-2000-10394)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2000–2004 films › Released 2000 to 2002*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license