VILLAIN *

Richard Burton as a mother-obsessed gay gangster modelled on Ronnie Kray. It wasn't the worst part he ever had and to be fair he does what he can with it but as British gangster pictures go, "Villain" has very little to recommend it. The director was Michael Tuchner who doesn't appear to have much interest in the material, though he does handle the film's heist scene with more brio than it or the film probably deserves.

The script was by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais who were better suited to comedy, (there aren't many laughs in this one). On the plus side, Burton was always worth watching, even when he was bad, while Ian McShane is fine as the pretty boy Burton likes to have rough sex with, discreetly off-screen, and Donald Sinden is excellent in much too small a part as a corrupt Member of Parliament. Watchable then, but certainly not memorable.