The Long Good Friday
HandMade Films | Release Date: April 2, 1982 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This movie is one amazing piece of work, not only for the Hoskins performance but also for the energy of the filmmaking, the power of the music, and, oddly enough, for the engaging quality of its sometimes very violent sense of humor. Read full review
100
EmpireAdam Smith
Brutal and brilliant. Read full review
90
IGNStaff (Not Credited)
The Long Good Friday is arguably the best British gangster film ever made due to its politically-charged story and the performances of Bob Hoskins and Hellen Mirren. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineGlenn Heath Jr.
As a collage of glossy gangster conventions and one-liners, The Long Good Friday explodes with energy, but it’s the political and social tensions that make Mackenzie’s film a lasting vision of British tragedy. Read full review
80
BBCDavid Wood
A touchstone for many of the sub-standard gangster films Britain mercilessly churns out today, The Long Good Friday is classy fare and superior viewing to its modern counterparts in every way. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
Hoskins’ bullish, black-comic Napoleonism makes this movie: pugnacious, sentimental, a cockney Cagney. Read full review
80
Time OutDave Calhoun
In style, the film’s ambition sometimes oversteps its ability, but it’s a rare London gangster film that has something to say about the city and says it with wit and little resort to bloodletting Read full review
80
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
In many respects a conventional thriller set in London's underworld, The Long Good Friday is much more densely plotted and intelligently scripted than most such yarns. Read full review
80
Little White LiesDavid Jenkins
Hoskins performance shows a man who clearly believes that he’s on the right side of history, and once this big, good deal is done, he will have atoned for past sins. The film is brutal in the way it conclusively proves him wrong, right down to its iconic final shot in which Shand sits in the back of a car struggling to settle on the emotion that would amply capture his frazzled state. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The Long Good Friday charts a perilous course through a world of powerful people, ghastly acts of vengeance and ominously shifting fortunes. Read full review
80
The TelegraphMarc Lee
The terrific close-up showing Harold's look of appalled realisation – and resignation – is unforgettable. Read full review
80
Total FilmStaff (Not Credited)
Most importantly, The Long Good Friday features one of Bob Hoskins' best performances, as Harold Shand, the patriotic mobster who's heading for a fall. Without this towering central performance, it's likely that The Long Good Friday would have been sidelined as "that dodgy '80s gangster film" years ago. Read full review
75
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Bob Hoskins gives a growly, charismatic performance as the kingpin brought low by phantom forces over the course of an Easter weekend, and there’s a political theme that asserts itself with nicely rising force. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
A smooth and efficient film about some pretty rough characters, THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY deserves its status a modern-day crime classic. Read full review
70
The IndependentRoger Clarke
Hoskins is admirably twitchy as the crime-boss in the midst of having his henchmen culled, and being unable to work out who is behind it. [06 Mar 2000, p.21]
70
NewsweekJack Kroll
There's plenty of violence in The Long Good Friday, but it's good old macho man-against-man violence and the film has crisp direction from John Mackenzie and a tight, smart, sophisticated script by a first-rate English playwright, Barrie Keeffe. [15 Mar 1982, p.78]
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