The Gentlemen (2020) Review
“There’s only one rule in this jungle! When the lion is hungry, he eats.”
Plot: Mickey Pearson is an American expatriate who became rich by building a marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business, it soon triggers an array of plots and schemes from those who want his fortune.
Director Guy Ritchie is a very hit-and-miss director. He’s got a whole bunch of goodies (my personal favourite of his is The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) however he does have his fair share of stinkers. The recent King Arthur: Legend of the Sword comes to mind as a film that tried to act overly Shakespearean, but one simple look at Mr Ritchie gives you a blatant idea that he is no Bard. His Sherlock Holmes sequel isn’t particularly eye-opening either. However, with The Gentlemen he returns to his roots of British gangster movies, having begun his career with films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, and we could not be better for it, as The Gentlemen is an absolute treat.
The movie’s shining star is Ritchie’s superbly written screenplay. The guy (get it?) has such a knack for writing that his dialogue, though filled to the brim with foul-mouthed slurs I must add, sounds poetically musical. Each line flows into another with a special pace and beat to it. Thus the actors get to have so much fun playing along to these lines of dialogue that then causes each scene to be so engaging and entertaining. I guess that is why Disney approached Ritchie to direct their Aladdin remake. His screenplays roll off the tongue like a musical anyway, so give him Aladdin with a rule of not swearing, and you have yourself a fun movie. And Aladdin is overall entertaining for what it is, yet not without flaws. The Gentlemen, however, has Guy Ritchie doing what he does best, by putting a bunch of criminals in stylish outfits in one room and have them measure up their genital sizes, but in such a suave way. Suave is the keyword here. Suave and slick.
The cast ensemble is perfectly picked, whether it’s McConaughey, well, being McConaughey, or Charlie Hunnam charming us with his sophisticated soft-spoken tongue, or Michelle Dockery proclaiming “there’s fuckery afoot”, or Colin Farrell throwing out energy left and right…everyone fits their role perfectly, but the stand-out is the unrecognizable Hugh Grant, who gives both a slimy as well as overly flamboyant campy performance, with many of the movie’s best jokes coming courtesy of him. That too, by the way, this movie is really funny! This is very much a case of a sit-down, switch off your brain, and enjoy 2 hours of a British crime comedy-drama, which does not take itself too seriously and also, unlike Snatch (though that movie is great in its own right), is very easy to follow. The narrative does jump a little between past, present and future, however, due to the movie’s format having Grant’s character narrate the whole ordeal, the movie is not complicated and easy to understand. This movie is simply a fun time at the movies, and I did not expect it to be as good as it was, but now it has reminded me what Guy Ritchie is truly good at and it is a joy to watch. Seek this one out for sure! As Henry Cavill says in Ritchie’s other film Man from U.N.C.L.E.: “Now that’s entertainment!”
Overall score: 8/10
