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| “ | There's no school like old school, and I'm the fucking headmaster. | „ |
| ~ Cole to Archie. |
Lenny Cole, also known as Sidney Shaw, is the main antagonist of the 2008 British action black comedy crime film RocknRolla.
He was portrayed by the late Tom Wilkinson, who also played Robert Beaumont in The Ghost and the Darkness, Thomas Griffin in Rush Hour, Lord Cornwallis in The Patriot, Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins, Friedrich Fromm in Valkyrie, Thomas Pendrew in Sleeping Dogs and Latham Cole in The Lone Ranger.
Biography[]
Lenny is an old and corrupted real estate tycoon. He controls the entire London property market, and no building permit is issued without his knowledge. He regularly takes advantage of those with a criminal record. Cole lends them money to get these people their permits, but at the same time arranges with the municipal authorities to refuse to issue them. As a result, the debtors are forced to repay Cole, who buys back their shares at the same time. One day, Cole meets with a Russian businessman named Yuri asking for a building permit for an arena. Lenny is happy because he will have a commission on every ruble spent. He accepts in exchange of seven millions and as a proof of his gratitude, Yuri gives him an artwork. When the deal is done, his right-hand man Archie asks him if he did well to trust the Russian because they work differently now, but Cole bluntly shuts him up, promptly claiming he is the one who controls everything.
After coaxing the deputy mayor into giving the Russian the building permit, Lenny calls Archie in a panic and says he's been robbed. The thieves have allegedly taken Yuri's painting. Summoning Archie and his goons, he orders to retrieve the painting and kill the burglar, and goes to bed. To Lenny’s surprise, some people who “owed” two millions to Lenny informed Archie they have the money. The crime lord is also told Yuri’s seven million has been robbed.
Eventually, Lenny captures two men suspected of knowing the thief. He ties them up in a shed just above the Thames and tortures them by submerging them under water while they're tied to a chair. Lenny makes his tea and then returns to the two men to ask them for a name. He threatens to release American crayfish on them if they don't say the right name. One of the man admits the thief’s name is Johnny Quid. Lenny does not believe him as Quid was his stepson and was reported dead a few days ago. But the guy persists and Lenny tells Archie to check with Quid’s former managers. Lenny goes personally to Quid’s recording studio to see his former stepson and interrogate the managers. Both affirm Quid’s dead, but Lenny still believes he is alive. He demands Quid to be brought to him or the managers will suffer from severe consequences.
Cole later meets with Yuri again and is told the seven million has been lost. Believing it is because Lenny has his painting in his house, he wants him back. A drunken Cole returns to see Archie and after the latter criticizes the Russian’s methods, Cole threatens him to cut his tongue off if he speaks of the matter again. When he sees Yuri again, he pretexts he put the painting in a safe, but that the key was lost by Archie. Surprised, Yuri adjourns the meeting, to Cole’s suspicion. After that, Cole goes to see the deputy mayor because he's not answering his phone. The deputy refuses to issue the permit because he's been dragging his feet too long. Cole grabs his balls and blackmails him, informing him that he keeps all his receipts from illegal transactions.
Later, Yuri invites him to play a round of golf. While they're playing, Yuri asks him where his painting is and says he doesn't believe Cole anymore, because he always finds an unfortunate excuse not to return it. The London gangster gets angry and insults him, but Yuri's henchman hits him in the leg with his golf club. Yuri makes it clear that he wants his painting and leaves him lying on the ground. This causes him to be transported and bound to a wheelchair. When he is discharged, he senses that one of his henchmen has been drinking. He slaps him and warns him that he'll be in trouble if he drinks again.
Quid is brought to Cole by Archie, who also found and brought those who stolen the painting. Cole calls him a “poison” and blames him for causing his father’s death out of shame and driving his mother into insanity and killing herself at the asylum. Quid begins to tell Archie a story in which Cole send him into jail, but Cole non-fatally shoots him to prevent him from talking and orders one of his goons to get rid of him. One of the thieves claims to Archie he has the location of the painting and give it to him. This turns out to be the a folder revealing Cole has been the one who denounced everyone of his criminal empire and sentenced them to various prison terms to save himself from being prosecuted, including Archie himself who served four years in prison on Lenny's evidence. Cole tries to make him believe he was forced to do so, but Archie, fed up with his boss’s selfishness, ties his wheelchair up and plunges him into the Thames while enumerating the people he sold and the terms they had to serve, ending Cole's reign of terror for good.
Personality[]
Lenny is a feared, sadistic and ruthless albeit manipulative crime lord. He is capable of being perfectly polite when dealing with people who contact him, but it's just a facade he uses to double-cross them in order to get the money. Cole doesn't tolerate any delay or error. He is also irritable and verbally abusive, abusing his stepson and even his own minions such as his right-hand man Archie just because he suspected them of something. Above all, Cole is a scheming and egotistical man who only cares about himself and happily throws his own men under the bus to save his own skin.
Gallery[]
