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Guy Ritchie. Once the king of the British gangster flick. In the past decade, we have seen him move toward other genres (with pretty disappointing results) – but with the release of The Gentleman, Mr. Ritchie has landed firmly back in his most familiar territory.
But is this new movie able to reach the heights that Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) or Snatch (2000) – his two most well-received offerings and the films that kick-started his career – were able to, or is this another barrel scrapping effort that we have become accustomed to at this point?
Well, to be honest, it lands somewhere in between. The 75% audience rating on rotten tomatoes proves to be his highest-rated film in years and is similarly scored by reviewers with a 7.8/10 score on IMDB.
Set in gloomy London, the story kicks off with self-made Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) looking to offload his cannabis cultivation empire. Mickey is an American outsider in a world awash with British gangsters. Weed seeds are the name of the game, but Mickey has obviously had more than his fair share and is wanting out.
The plot quickly turns full meta as we are clued into Mickey’s plans through private investigator and wannabe screenwriter Fletcher (Hugh Grant). Grant’s performance here is possibly my favorite of his in years. His depiction of the slimy, greasy Fletcher is perfect, and the way that Ritchie uses this character to drive the plotline along with works really well. Fletcher is aware of some (not all) of Mickey’s dealings and tries to blackmail his way into a tidy payday by writing a screenplay depicting the story and then sharing this knowledge with Mickey. This “movie within a movie” idea allows for some great tongue-in-cheek moments, and the director uses every chance he gets to poke fun at the wider film industry, and at gangster films in particular.
We are introduced to a few prospective buyers for the ganga empire – an Asian mob leader first, who goes by Dry Eye (Henry Golding), and then the Jewish-American billionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong) with neither meeting going exactly to plan. As with all of Richie’s best films, the plot seems to be driven at a supercar pace for the first act. This pace thankfully slows slightly with the introduction of Colin Farrel’s “Coach” character and Charlie Hunnam’s “Raymond Smith” taking over as the audience stand-in. Hunnam made a name for himself as Jax Teller in “Sons of Anarchy”, so the gangster genre is his comfort zone, but boy does he take center stage in “The Gentleman”. His performance demands respect and is one of the few shining lights in an otherwise slightly dull affair.
Sure, this is a Guy Ritchie film in full effect. All the elements are there – the dry and witty British humor, the jumpy cuts, the easily recognizable soundtrack choices that play so well with the criminal background, and the main players that are so readily loved and hated at the same time. But it all just feels a little dated, with the things that we usually adore about Richie’s earlier films just oh so slightly missing.
If you are looking for a film that will keep you engaged, that will give you a couple of hearty giggles, and is anything but slow then “The Gentleman” is for you. But, if you were hoping for an instant Guy Ritchie classic, a film that is up there with his best, then you may leave the cinema feeling slightly disappointed – I know that I did.
