SHARP CRIME THRILLER IS A RARE BREED.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

``Sexy Beast'' is the latest lad culture import from England, a fast-paced, ultra-violent caper movie where every third word is profane and every third scene features some horrendous brutality. What separates this movie from, say, ``Snatch'' or ``Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is that here, the savagery is being administered by a most unlikely suspect - Ben Kingsley, the actor best-known for playing the world's most famous pacifist, Gandhi.

Seeing Kingsley sink his teeth into his pit bull hoodlum rates as ``Sexy Beast's'' greatest pleasure, but not its only one. The film is beautifully directed by first-time filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, who, until now, was best-known for making Guinness commercials and Radiohead videos. Unlike most commercial directors (from this summer, Michael Bay and Dominic Sena come immediately to mind), Glazer understands the importance of pace and characterization, resulting in a movie that actually has some substance underneath its flashy style.

Glazer's talents are amply evident in the movie's opening poolside sequence where we're introduced to middle-age Gal Dove (Ray Winstone), a one-time London criminal who has retired to Spain's Costa del Sol. While the soundtrack blasts the Stranglers' gritty anthem ``Peaches'' we watch Gal soak in the sun, occasionally sitting up from his lounge chair to supervise his pool boy's sweeping and order a sandwich.

A natural cataclysm (I won't spoil the surprise, but it's probably the summer's coolest sequence thus far) signals an end to Gal's idyllic existence and, sure enough, while dining out with his ex-porn star wife (Amanda Redman), Gal learns that an old underworld associate, Don Logan (Kingsley), has called and is coming to visit him in Spain.

Logan wants Gal to return to London and help him pull a big bank heist. Gal resists; he likes his leisurely lifestyle, loves his beautiful wife and doesn't want to go back to his violent days. But Logan won't take ``no'' for an answer and Gal knows you refuse his offer at great personal risk.

Kingsley brings a ferocious, relentless intensity to every scene he's in, but his Logan (thanks to Louis Mellis and David Scinto's fine screenplay) isn't a one-note character. When we see Logan alone, talking to himself, it's evident that he's the epitome of an unloved child, a man whose life is so bereft of happiness that he can't bear to see anyone else enjoying themselves.

Winstone has made a career of playing guys like Logan, but here ably displays his more sensitive side. Ian McShane glowers impressively as the brains behind the London bank heist.

``Sexy Beast'' sags a bit after the story takes a left turn toward the end, and Glazer's visual style isn't without its faults. (Nightmarish dream sequences are employed often with little effect.) And you most certainly need a stomach for the kind of sadistic brutishness depicted here; anyone who prefers their violence on the cartoon side would be well advised to go back to ``The Mummy Returns.'' But you won't find anything as beastly as Ben Kingsley there.

``SEXY BEAST''

(Rated R: pervasive language, strong violence and some sexuality)

The stars: Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Jonathan Glazer. Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto. Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 31 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena; Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood; Laemmle's Monica in Santa Monica.

Our rating: Three stars

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Criminal Ben Kingsley, left, tries to recruit Ray Winstone for one last caper in ``Sexy Beast.''