Richard Burton plays a sadistic, notorious, homosexual, British crime boss in Michael Tuchner's directorial debut "Villain" with Ian McShane, Nigel Davenport, Jose Ackland, and Donald Sinden. Loosely based on the life of Ronnie Kray, this grim, sometimes violent, but often dreary thriller is ostensibly based on James Barlow's novel "The Burden of Proof." The highlight of this atmospheric gangster saga is a robbery bid in broad daylight as Vic Dakin (Richard Burton) and his cronies grab sixty to seventy thousand pounds from an armored car. What makes everything the dastardly Dakin does here so ironic is our criminal genius steps out of his comfort zone to commit this crime. Previously, he earned his loot from terrorizing storekeepers as well as blackmailing those who help he needed. Dakin is a devoted son to his elderly mother (Cathleen Nesbitt) and lavishes attention on her when he isn't beating up his adversaries. Inspector Bob Matthews (Nigel Davenport of "Play Dirty") struggles to find enough evidence to arrest this elusive killer. Altogether unsavory but moments of violence that capture the era, "Villain" qualifies as a letdown and is nowhere as vastly entertaining as Michael Caine's "Get Carter." Tuchner and his scenarists have done a splendid job keeping everybody palatable. Burton is as cold-blooded as ever while Nigel Davenport looks like the Big Bad Wolf. Colin Welland plays Davenport's second-in-command and he attacks his role with relish. If you're a Burton afficionado, you'll crave this hard-knuckled, tightly knit gangland movie. Burton's villainous villain seethes with rage and indignation throughout the colorful but atmospheric 98-minute melodrama.
