The Guv'nor

Since my teens I have always been intrigued and curious about the real characters of the criminal underworld. Never delving too deep myself I have had the pleasure (and some not so nice) of shaking hands with some notorious faces. I would need the books about British gangland detailing, quite boldly the tales of drama that happened on the streets of London, and underneath them.

One of my favourite people was Lenny McLean, known by many as The Guv'nor. Out of the all the east end gangster books I had read, his story was my favourite, as I admired his moral code especially how one frightening part which could have been a robbery, but he only took what was owned. It's a book I would strongly urge everyone to read, in fact, this film has rekindled my admiration and will pick up the pages again.

His son Jamie takes us down memory lane and who else better to do so, but, isn't there a danger of him being slightly biased? Yes, but only ever so slightly and he does incredibly well to tell his Dad's story without judgement, or favour, just telling it how it is. Writer/Producer Paul Van Carter, highly credited for the Gascoigne documentary, makes this his impressive directorial debut and they do so well, being a challenge to squeeze such a legendary man into a feature length documentary.

Filmed in London, right at the roots of the story, we're given a guided tour of the home Lenny and family grew up in and lived in. Some iconic places with some now swept away by time and redevelopment, it's a nostalgic journey. Seeing the original promotion posters for the fights and the collection of home video and interview snippets really adds the impact of his legend.

It's interesting to hear the stories from people close to him and from people who knew of him and his reputation. His friends, family and even Lock, Stock heads, Guy Ritchie, Jason Flemyng and Vas Blackwood. It's refreshing to hear comical and nice stories behind the toughest man in Britain instead of the violent and sometimes nasty tales.

It also reminds us, or tells us of an era where London streets was very much a warrior's world. Being a man took courage and true strength to defend yourselves, your friends and family, and your word. Sh*t got real in those days, and while there is always people about on the streets looking to take liberties, today lacks the street justice that actually protected those not wanting to get involved.

It doesn't glamorise the underworld, the East End or the violence, instead it reminds us all that even though someone might have an immense and dangerous reputation, they're people as well, telling a story not just of the king of doormen, the champion bare knuckle fist fighter, or even the celebrity gangster some might perceive him as, but as a loving father, a gentleman and a family man who was thrown into a world of violence not by choice. His word being stronger than himself, declaring with such conviction it knocks out any doubt, being very much a man of "I do what I say, and say what I do."

It's a surprisingly touching and emotional tribute to an incredibly infamous man, and it shines a light on the history behind the legend, his own pains and abuse, his love for his family and his lost battles. Rest in Peace Lenny McLean, The only real Guv'nor to me.

Running Time: 9 The Cast: 8 Performance: 9 Direction: 8 Story: 9 Script: 9 Creativity: 8 Soundtrack: 7 Job Description: 10 The Extra Bonus Points: 10 for a brilliant and touching documentary of one of London's most respected warriors.

87% 9/10

Knew the name and some of the stories, and the documentary film did not disappoint summing up McLean's life over an 80 min run time. However having his son narrate the documentary had me concerned from the start and my fears were justified with his son Jamie trying to show off a hard man reputation for himself.

We all know people personally who live life through a parent, and this seemed very much the case here as Jamie seemed to revel growing up in his dads hard man shadow asking the question is he viewed to be just like his dad - simple answer is no. The question of why very few of McLean's family were willing to be interviewed was never answered except Jamie's mention they were 'all a bit nuts'.

With no one else to interview its left to Jamie to recite the legendary stories he had heard growing up, some from when he was a 7 year old boy so rationalisation will have to go out the window. Do not come in to this documentary expecting many facts or hard evidence except relying on some home videos to judge for yourself.

The documentary only really got interesting with 12 minutes to go when off camera, McLean's sister had mentioned he had a darker side to him (shocker) and he could be a bully sometimes growing up. For the first time a negative issue was being raised which was much welcomed for some unbiased viewing. However things rapidly went downhill when this 'revelation' caused the narrator Jamie to feel emotional and he then gets involved in an altercation in a cafe (off camera!) to show he is a big tough guy after all - yawn.

All in a decent time passer but do not expect to find out anything new here, particularly from anyone in McLean's inner circle.

While the man this documentary is about is certainly an interesting one, his son tells the story, almost to the exclusion of anyone else.

Biased and largely self-promoting, it is almost more about the son than the father. No one in the family wanted to talk about him on camera.

If the story was told by someone else, someone with an iota of journalistic / research skills, it may have been much more interesting.

Found it kinda boring. Right away Lenny's sibling refuse to speak, so we're left with anecdotes told by his son, many of which have the flavour of urban legend. This undermines the credibility of the film as a documentary, but it also makes it less full, bold and character-rich. Lenny seems flat, and for a character who really only had notoriety in a tiny corner of the world, it is that spice of character, background, motivation, personal struggle etc. That is needed to make such a story worth telling. As it stands, it feels like a story told by the barman over a couple pints late at night before closing.

Having Known about Lenny as The Guv'nor, i was not expecting this to be so emotional and eye-opening, having lennie's son do the narration and generally opening up about past life was incredible...this is a must see documentary about a legend of a man 10 out 0f 10.....what was interesting as well, was the new facts that i didn't know about Lenny growing up in London and being among the same sort of people as Lenny i do have an understanding of what life was like, bullying was rife and actually people like Lennie's step-dad were all over the place. the saddest part of all this is that Lenny didn't get to see this remarkable piece of cinema