Understanding why Ian McShane is somehow scarier than Ben Kingsley in ‘Sexy Beast’
The primary antagonism of Jonathan Glazer’s directorial debut Sexy Beast, released in 2000, naturally comes via Ben Kingsley’s viscerally shocking and violent performance as London gangster Don Logan. However, one ought to forget Ian McShane’s equally impressive and fearsome effort as crime boss Teddy Bass, who somehow arrives on screen later in the film with even more terror-inducing intensity.
Sexy Beast sees Ray Winstone play former criminal Gal, who has happily retired on the Costa del Sol with his wife and best friend. However, Gal’s sun-soaked retirement of drinking wine, smoking fags and dancing the night away is disrupted by Don’s arrival, who demands that Gal returns to work for a bank robbery in London organised by his boss Teddy.
When Gal declines, Don flies into a fit of violent rage, with Ben Kingsley delivering one of his greatest-ever performances, tapping into his own childhood trauma to create a man of genuinely sociopathic qualities. Don Logan is one of the most fear-inducing characters in modern cinema, and his shouts and screams ring in the ears long after Sexy Beast is drawn close.
Eventually, though, Gal returns to London to take on the job Don had suggested, mainly because Gal has inadvertently disposed of the violent gangster. At this point, we realise that there might be an even worse and scarier character in the London criminal underworld, namely, the spine-chilling Teddy Bass, played with striking menace by Ian McShane.
We see in Teddy that he’s a man of sophistication with his high-quality, tailored suits and a demeanour of sheer suaveness. With such an appearance and characteristics, it can be easy to forget that Teddy is a ruthless and violent criminal mastermind, with McShane showing his versatility in intimidation and charm. The scariest thing about McShane’s effort is his calm and quiet behaviour.
Where Don shouts, Teddy talks; where Don has lost his temper, Teddy always retains his composure. Every word he speaks is controlled and intended. As Teddy eyes up Gal upon his re-arrival in London, he looks deep into his soul, striking fear into the former gangster’s heart in a way that even Don, with his endless aggression, never could.
Let’s not forget that Teddy is not afraid to get his hands dirty, either dishing out cold violence at one moment before taking part in the bank robbery – certainly one of the film’s most claustrophobic moments. In that light, where Don had been threatening to try and stamp his authority on Gal, Teddy is a man of his word, likely showing the reason he climbed the criminal ranks to boss level in the first place.
Don is undoubtedly a character haunted by his demons and always allows them to surface. However, Teddy is a man who has exorcised his probable inner turmoil to such a degree that he has utter control over it. Don’s violent outbursts are, therefore, far easier to deal with than Teddy’s quiet and chilling air of menace and exactitude.
There’s no doubt that Kingsley perfectly captured the tortured viciousness of Don Logan in Sexy Beast and made him one of the most memorable film characters of the 21st century. However, once Don is put to the side, we realise that it’s Teddy Bass that we ought to be most afraid of, with Ian McShane detailing a calm and collective vision of the notorious London crime boss.
