Guy Ritchie has a certain style of putting a script and movie together (see e.g. his Sherlock Holmes). And when it comes to something like a film about ‘bad boys’ posing as English Gentlemen of a sort, he is in his element. The new movie, ‘The Gentlemen’ of the same sort of ilk as The Kingsmen, presents us with an all star cast of rogues who are in top form, including Matthew McConaughey, Henry Golding (of Rich Young Asians fame), Michelle Dockery, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant as a thoroughly despicable, blackmailing reporter. I will be surprised if Grant at least doesn’t get some award nominations for this performance. The film is short (103 minutes) with one plot twist after another, and other surprises to boot, The story is played with a light touch, even though it’s all about crimes and thuggery, but none of these ‘gentlemen’ are Robin Hood, and none of them are gentle either. In essence the story is about the marijuana business, and how Michael Pearson and his scheming Cockney wife (i.e. Matthew and Michelle) are looking to get out of the illegal business while making a hefty profit. None of these characters are likable or admirable for that matter, but they are interesting to watch, in the same sort of way that the Godfather movies or the Sopranos were interesting, but both of those series were of a much more serious and heavy sort of ouevre. This is a mere bagatelle compared to those award winners. The movie successfully weaves the various story lines together and ends in a reasonably satisfactory way, with a hint there might be a sequel.
This movie gets an R rating mainly due to language, and some violence. There are no sex scenes. The irony is, it could have done without much of the language and gotten a PG-13 rating and a bigger audience. As it is, this movie provides a little divertimento on a gray winter’s day that is enjoyable to watch.
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