The gentlemen - MD movie review blog
“A British drug lord tries to sell off his highly profitable empire to a dynasty of Oklahoma billionaires.”
‘The Gentlemen’ is Guy Ritchie returning to his gangster roots again. A gentrified cousin to ‘Lock stock’ and ‘Snatch’ it features once again a motley crew of eccentric characters, double deals and a sleight of hand.
Opening with ‘Fletcher’ (played by Hugh Grant) a sleazy investigative journalist, who seizes an opportunity to try to blackmail Mickey Pearson (Matthew Mc Conaughey) for a cool twenty million regaling his ‘Fixer’ Ray (Charlie hunnam) about Mickey’s clandestine drug business which he intends to air publicly on the front page of a sleazy rag headed by the ruthless editor ‘Big Dave’ (Eddie Mardan).
Told in a slightly muddled flashback we follow Mickey and Ray as they try to negotiate an uneasy sale of their ‘weed business’ to ‘Matthew’ (Jeremy Strong) when a young gangster called ‘Dry eye’ (Henry Golding) interferes causing mayhem.
There are quite a few subplots to the movie. Initially when we open with Fletcher (Grant) telling us in unnecessarily Tarantino-esque dialogue about his master plan I thought I was going to be in for a very long viewing experience. Charlie Hunnam really didn’t inspire me with confidence either, his performance in these early scenes slightly wooden, unsure himself of what exact way to play his character. It is fortunate for the movie that he eventually settles into the role and gives a decent performance. Grant on the other hand plays his socks off, enjoying the chance to play a vile newsman especially timely considering his recent run-ins with newspaper publications.
The dialogue exchanges here giving the movie an unintentional 90’s feel copying Tarantino’s lilt without his timing or sense of style. McConaughey fairs better but it is an easy role for him, never stretching him in any way, he glides through the movie giving him a somewhat uninspired if enjoyable character. The same could be said for Michelle Dockery who gets the least to do and is only there to be used as a ‘female in jeopardy’ otherwise her character is forgettable and could have been played by anyone. Indeed it could be said that their relationship together gets somewhat sidelined and underserved.
Not to say that the movie is bad, it’s not. It’s an enjoyable caper if somewhat muddled at points. The eccentric side characters making far more interesting viewing no more so than Colin Farrell’s ‘Coach’ who teaches boxing to a rag tag of borderline degenerates. His scenes are entertaining and witty, played with his tongue firmly in his cheek.
It sometimes, however, gives the feeling that the whole movie is a little incoherent as the main plot of the story gets somewhat sidelined in favour of more interesting things. Jeremy Strong’s character ‘Matthew’ a case in point where he had potential to be an interesting villain, he gets relegated and diffused to the point where he doesn’t seem very important at all. This gives the ending a somewhat anticlimactic feel.
Overall ‘The Gentlemen’ is an enjoyable movie. It’s not perfect nor would I say it is better than ‘Snatch’. It’s different but the same. A slightly less chaotic Ritchie gone are most of the speed ramping effects which I’m thankful for. A slightly more sedate entry into his ‘mockney’ crime filmography but enjoyable nonetheless.
