Fresh
A chiaroscuro drama of unstoppable tragedy.
Mary Makarushka, Entertainment Weekly
Let Him Have It
The shocking story of an unbelievable miscarriage of justice.
1991 · 1h 55m · R
Drama
Directed by
Peter Medak
Overview
In 1950s England, slow-witted Derek Bentley falls in with a group of petty criminals led by Chris Craig, a teenager with a fondness for American gangster films. Chris and Derek's friendship leads to their involvement in the true case which would forever shake England's belief in capital punishment.
Director and cast
- Peter Medak Director
- Christopher Eccleston as Derek Bentley
- Paul Reynolds as Christopher Craig
- Tom Courtenay as William Bentley
- Eileen Atkins as Lilian Bentley
- Serena Scott Thomas as Stella
- Iain Cuthbertson as Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe
- Tom Bell as Fairfax
- Clive Revill as Pierrepoint
- Clare Holman as Iris Bentley
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
84%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Courtenay slowly works his way into the center of the movie's sympathies. When he embraces his remaining family at the moment of his son's execution, his sorrow seems boundless.
Peter Rainer, Los Angeles Times
Fresh
As the protagonist/victim, Eccleston gives a superb, riveting performance in his feature-film debut, as does Reynolds, another newcomer who deftly handles the role of the gun-crazy and trigger-happy Chris.
Clifford Terry, Chicago Tribune
Fresh
Let Him Have It is unabashedly weighted toward the perspective of the murderer as victim -- a notion that does not enjoy much public currency in our more violent times. But if ever there was a victim of the judicial system, it was Derek Bentley.
Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer
Fresh
The script, by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, finds enough quirks in its protagonists to lift them above the issues-movie premise. Michael Kamen's atmospheric chamber score is also crucial to the film's success.
Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times
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