Legend

Narration tells us that everybody in London’s East End during the 1960s “had a story about the Krays,” yet Legend reveals only a few of them.

This generically titled biopic about the notorious gangsters only scratches the surface of their influence, instead resorting to formula and uneven shifts in tone.

Tom Hardy plays Cockney identical twins Ron and Reggie Kray, whose rise and fall in the organized crime world turned them into notorious celebrities. Reggie is a debonair fledgling nightclub owner whose subdued impatience hides a violent temper. He and his passive but loyal wife (Emily Browning) reluctantly obligated to watch over Ron, a flamboyantly gay but emotionally troubled loose cannon.

Together their empire wreaks havoc by using their business connections and social status to cover up their involvement in various schemes ranging from small-time robberies to elaborate conspiracies and protection rackets. They even commit a couple of high-profile murders before their personal lives crumble behind the scenes.

If the subject matter sounds familiar, there was a previous film called The Krays (1990), directed by Peter Medak, that mined the same territory but seemed edgier and more urgent.

You have to tip your cap to Hardy, whose distinctive dual performance contains enough depth and complexity in both roles to transcend gimmickry. You wish his efforts would have been rewarded with a better script.

However, the screenplay by director Brian Helgeland (42) is mostly content to recycle mobster clichés, such as the macho posturing and the corrupt authorities and the deep-rooted spirituality to the woman caught in the middle and rival gangs infringing on each other’s turf.

The film features some stylish period touches, conveying an evocative depiction of working-class London at the time. It also doesn’t shy away from brutal violence, such as an afternoon pub confrontation with some small-time thugs that culminates in beatings with hammers and brass knuckles.

Yet as it builds up to the inevitably bloody final showdown for supremacy in the streets, Legend struggles with the transitions between its lighthearted moments and its depictions of ruthless intimidation. The result feels like a movie fighting against itself, kind of like its lead actor in a more literal sense.

Rated R, 132 minutes.