It’s been four years since the conclusion of Peaky Blinders’ six-season run, writes Carter Smith, and it was hard to know whether anyone still cared about the show. After all, Cillian Murphy has gone on to win an Academy Award for Oppenheimer, and the number of lads dressing up like the razor blade gang has thankfully decreased.
Director Tom Harper would answer this question in the Shelby family’s first movie outing, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Six years on from when Thomas Shelby galloped away on his horse, things have gone from bad to worse in Birmingham. The destruction of World War 2 is in full swing, and his gypsy son Duke (a surprisingly great Barry Keoghan) has brought the Peaky Blinders back to their thuggish ways.
Where does that leave Tommy? Well, he is writing an autobiography far away from the gritty streets of Birmingham. He resides in an empty mansion with only his loyal friend Johnny Dogs (Packy Lee) and the figures of his past that haunt him.
It’s a familiar script. There is a bad guy, this time in the form of Tim Roth’s Beckett, a Nazi ally who plans to betray England with Duke’s help. Reluctantly, Tommy has to leave the quiet life behind and go save the day one last time. It’s not dissimilar to what we have seen in the TV show.
The issue, however, is that this isn’t a TV show. You don’t have six hours to build up these new characters. You have 112 minutes. This leads the film’s narrative to feel a little uneven throughout.
You can get away with Tommy not arriving in Birmingham until the end of episode two. But you can’t get away with waiting until over half of the movie is done for him to set foot on the hallowed turf of Small Heath – especially considering it is one of the best moments of the show when he does.
There are great character moments throughout, namely with Sophie Rundle’s Ada and Duke’s eccentric aunt, played by Rebecca Ferguson. But it’s Murphy who obviously steals the show. He wears that three-piece suit and tweed flap cap like a suit of armour, commanding your attention every time he graces the screen.
Although it lacks the tension synonymous with the series, it remains a serviceable ending to one of the all-time great TV shows. It’s time to retire the shoddy haircuts and put the show in a wagon and watch as it burns in all its glory. In the bleak Midwinter.
