Ultimately as a demo for showing Hardy’s range on screen, Legend is a fairly good attempt but as a gangster epic this is neither fun nor deeply nuanced. A far more capable filmmaker could have made this film live up to its title.

Though Helgeland’s writing is frequently funny and the period detail immersive, the film suffers for lack of someone to root for. The only sympathetic character is Frances, who—in an uncharacteristic move—is entrusted the voice-over.

The focus on the inner world of the Krays and their cohorts excludes any awareness of what else was going on in London at that point, but as a platform for the talented cast, especially Hardy, the movie works just fine. Helgeland’s screenplay is packed with sharp one-liners and repartee, including Ronnie’s observation that he is a “giver and not a receiver” when he is describing the kind of gay man he is, and Thewlis’s resigned comment that the gang needs “a public relations department and we have Joseph Goebbels”.