What I’m watching: a fun, profane British crime sagaDate: 1/29/2020 What I’m watching: a director returns to his roots.
In theaters: The Gentlemen
Director Guy Ritchie came to prominence with two crime movies that were a breath of fresh air for the genre: “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” and “Snatch.”
Both film have large casts, multiple storylines that converge and dialogue that is profanely poetic.
Audiences, even in this country, made the two films a success despite the fact the British slang in each of them was sometimes a barrier.
Ritchie’s success led to several productions that didn’t hit the mark, although he got his career back on track with the success of the two Sherlock Holmes adaptations he directed starring Robert Downey Jr.
He helmed the live action version of the classic Disney animated feature “Aladdin,” as well, despite not being known for creating musical comedies.
His new film, “The Gentlemen,” is a return to his trademark British crime format.
Matthew McConaughey plays Mickey Pearson, an American who came to Great Britain during his college days and never left. Pearson started selling marijuana to his fellow students and found he was so good at it he dropped out of school.
Fast-forward 30 years and Pearson is enormously successful. Naturally that attracts unwanted scrutiny from some of his colleagues in crime. Pearson is entertaining an offer to sell his operation to a fellow billionaire crook, Matthew (Jeremy Strong) for a mere $400 million pounds.
One of the strengths of a Guy Ritchie crime film is the twists and turns of the plot. Ritchie uses the device of a narrator in the form of a private detective named Fletcher (played with scene-stealing zeal by Hugh Grant). Fletcher has a modest proposition he makes to Ray (Charlie Hunnam) Pearson’s number one man.
Okay, enough with the plot – I don’t want to spoil it for you.
The performances are often perfectly understated. McConaughey displays none of the showboating gestures that have marked other performances, while Hunnam is also very controlled.
Like other Guy Ritchie crime films, the dialogue comes fast and is frequently obscene. There is the use of one word that is sure to make some audience members squirm a bit. Three people walked out of the screening I attended telling my friend and me as they walked passed us, “This isn’t our kind of movie.”
I’m sure “The Gentlemen” is not everyone’s cup of tea, but for me it is a return to Ritchie’s sweet spot: a twisted plot, strong characters and wicked dialogue.
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