Acclaimed gangster thriller starring Bob Hoskins as a top London crime boss whose attempts to launch a legitimate business enterprise are disrupted by a number of bombs from an unknown adversary. Harold Shand (Hoskins) is a gangster who has worked his way to the top with utter ruthlessness and a penchant for violence. Recognising that a more secure and prosperous future lies in moving to legal operations, he prepares to trade a life of crime for respectability through a plan to regenerate London's Docklands area. However, when unknown bombers begin targeting his properties and killing his associates, Shand only knows one response - violence. As he and his mistress, Victoria (Helen Mirren), try to hold his crumbling empire together, Shand finds himself facing the ironic prospect of all-out war just as he tries to convert to peace.