The Gentlemen (2019)
Fans of Guy Ritchie's --especially of his earlier Brit crime comedies, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch-- will be delighted that he's returned 20 years later to the formula that really put him on the map. Others without that experience may have a less enthusiastic response to this crispy criminal conspiracy comedy.
Its big name cast includes Matthew McGonaughey, Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell, Charlie Hunnam, Eddie Marsan, and Jeremy Strong. The cinematography by Alan Stewart, and music by Christopher Benstead were both very competent. Ritchie wrote, directed, and was one of the 11 producers.
The story is a bit too complex to outline here, but suffice to say that it's a entangled drug territorial dispute tale, with certain parties wanting to buy the other out. Violence ensues when they can't come to terms, and instead do some double dealing.
Grant's character starts off the dealing to one of the major drug lords, an American who has developed into a major crime figure (McGonaughey) that has become well established in his success. Grant more or less serves as the narrator for the twisty and surprise laden plot-- sort of a criminal Our Town type character who at once describes, but is also involved in, the action.
The whole project seemed to me to be a little tired and shallow; not hackneyed, but familiar. Grant's character put me in mind of the Michael Caine part in Sleuth (1972), although with not nearly the heft.
The detraction from the credibility of the story was in the casting of two key players: McGonaughey as the chief crime boss, and Jeremy Strong as a fabulously wealthy drug boss who was one wanting to take over McGonaughey's business. McGonaughey's Texas drawl seemed too out of place, and therefore his character had believability problems; whereas Strong's mousey demeanor was simply too weak for the part. Also in limited supply were the type of offbeat quirky jokes and speech patterns so evident in Ritchie's earlier works.
The film certainly had some enjoyable portions, yet without the good acting of the name players, the picture would likely have expired as quickly as did some of the bad guys. My guess is that Ritchie was beseeched by his money people to revive his earlier approach, after a couple of semi-stinkers (King Arthur and Aladdin), in order to get his stock back on track. Whether this mediocre film was enough to do it, time will tell. Next up from him is Cash Truck, set in Los Angeles. Fingers crossed...
Doc's rating: 5/10