50
MacIntyre's control over his material is assured at times, particularly when he focuses on Dom's young son, Bugsy, and the other troubled boys who float around the periphery of the Noonan gang.
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What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
Investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre's film is fairly standard British TV product, closer to a glorified "60 Minutes" segment then to cinematic art. But never mind -- its subject is, as he might say, feckin' amazing.
80
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
Charismatic and complicated, Noonan tries to run the movie the way he runs his town. But while the director sometimes appears to be glorifying Noonan's choices, reminders of uncomfortable reality intrude regularly.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by James Greenberg
A Very British Gangster is not only Noonan's story but a profile of a community dealing with poverty and drugs, and seeing no way out. In a sense, Noonan and his cronies are born into a life of crime.
40
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
Plays less like a documentary than an E! exposé of lowlife skulduggery.
50
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
Features some strikingly intimate footage of Noonan's extended family, but lets Noonan himself drives the show and his colorful tales of villainy that cry out for more context than MacIntyre provides.
80
Film Threat by Pete Vonder Haar
Noonan's life is one few of us can comprehend, and Mac Intyre's documentary, A Very British Gangster, is like a Guy Ritchie film come to life, only with a better dressed cast.