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Gangster No. 1

Gangster No. 1

Action · Drama · Thriller · 2000

An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk and who joined Freddie's gang—a man he both envied and ultimately betrayed.

Movie details

Gangster No. 1

“There can only be ONE!”

2000 Action · Drama · Thriller 1h 43m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.7 / 10

15.5K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

71 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

60 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk and who joined Freddie's gang—a man he both envied and ultimately betrayed.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Gangster No. 1?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Paul McGuigan

Written by

Johnny Ferguson

Paul Bettany

Paul Bettany

Younger Gangster

Malcolm McDowell

Malcolm McDowell

Gangster 55

David Thewlis

David Thewlis

Freddie Mays

Jamie Foreman

Jamie Foreman

Lenny Taylor

Saffron Burrows

Saffron Burrows

Karen

Kenneth Cranham

Kenneth Cranham

Tommy

Eddie Marsan

Eddie Marsan

Eddie Miller

Court is in session

Put Gangster No. 1 on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Auteur Devotee

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.