The Guv'nor

Not a documentary about footballer Paul Ince, but a colourful and revealing portrait of bare-knuckle fighter and bona fide hardman Lenny The Guv'nor McLean presented by his son, Jamie. McLean Jr has a personable approach, not only exploring his father's troubled early life (domestic abuse, borstal, boozing) and rise to fame as "the toughest man in Britain", but also going in search of the man behind the fearsomely violent reputation. It's a journey that takes Jamie into unexpected territory. On the one hand, Hoxton-born Lenny was a loving family man but horrifying anecdotes about the brutality he could dish out prove he had a dark side ("I like hitting people. Helps me to forget."). His three fights with vicious rival Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw are given the full archive treatment - arguably they were the Ali-Frazier of the unlicensed boxing game in the 1970s. Jamie's genuine desire to get behind his dad's persona drives the film. It's not a casual flick glamourising East End geezers and villains, despite the presence of Guy Ritchie who brought the Guv'nor to a wider audience when he featured him in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. This is more like Who Do You Think You Are?, only with extra punch.