Title: The Gentlemen
Release Date: January 24th, 2020
Studio: STX Entertainment, Miramax
Director: Guy Ritchie
Release Format: Theatrical
The Gentlemen is an amusing gangster comedy film that could have used a couple of more lessons before taking its act on the road.
This story sees weed kingpin Mickey Pearson (Matthey McConaughey) trying to retire from the game. But, when competition smells blood in the water, his retirement plans get more complicated as bodies start dropping left and right for control of his empire.
The beginning of this project was like Tylenol PM with an accent; I was legitimately falling asleep at points. Then, all of a sudden, boom, the set-up is done, and in comes a movie I want to see a sequel to now. What saves this experience is the stellar cast that had my eyes locked on to the screen with their quirky characters and sequences.
Crazy Covered by a Suit
The characters are the most substantial part of what holds this strange tale of smoke and bullets together. Hugh Grant is our unreliable narrator, who is a delight to watch as the embodiment of Randall from Recess. He is so slimy; every word that comes out his mouth will make you want to jump in a tub of Purell.
Colin Farrell’s Coach definitely has the best scenes of The Gentlemen as he plays a mentor looking after a group of troubled youth. The movie never goes too much into his backstory, but you get just enough to know that it deserves a movie itself.
Farrell is so matter-of-fact about everything bonkers happening around him, combined with his comedic reactions; he always is a bright point when on the screen. He adds a great dynamic that helps to round out this colorful cast of faces.
McConaughey plays a very likable gangster who wants to stop the violence and retired peacefully. He is chill, but when he is crossed, this guy becomes the coldest thing since that one ex who calls you by your middle name around company. Not cool.
Charlie Hunnam’s Raymond is like Alfred to McConaughey’s Bruce Wayne, as he will do whatever it takes for his boss. Like Mickey, Raymond is also reserved ‘til he is pushed too far. I pitied the fools on the other side of his sights as Raymond can go from polite Mr. Rogers to Mr. T real quick.
The Gentlemen trailers would lead someone to believe it’s non-stop craziness, but those absurd moments are sparse. Those scenes come in waves, actually making them refreshing since they don’t always happen to the point of numbness like in Hobbs and Shaw.
The plot is told in a non-linear way, which can be a handful even when done properly. Here, it doesn’t make much sense as the story is straight forward and jumping back and forth only serves a cocktail of confusion for the viewers.
Knives Out warranted the somewhat non-linear storytelling it did as it was a murder mystery. Meanwhile, the only secret here is where the script editor was at, and can anyone confirm they aren’t Guy Ritchie’s trunk?
Across the Pond
This is a very European styled film through and through from the jokes to the visuals and even the music. You have smooth brass instruments, pop tracks, and an odd “Man’s Not Hot” type song. They add to the style, but nothing stood out for me while watching.
The biggest issue of The Gentlemen is the self-indulgence of the script. The first-third mentioned above, where I fell asleep, had characters continually talking and not saying anything remotely interesting.
Tarantino can get away with long spans of nothing but dialogue happening because of how compelling it is. Guy Ritchie, on the other hand, looks to have put the cereal without the milk in. The long dialogue is there, minus anything worth hearing at least until after the first third.
This movie is not too long but feels that way in the beginning due to a poorly executed start. If the start weren’t so clunky, I would have been trying to catch my breath from the excitement featured in the other parts instead of some z’s.
I sometimes say x movie should have been a TV series because there was too much to fit into a film. However, that is not the case here as they had the time to do so but filled it with rather pointless dialogue instead of actual substance.
Say Something
Verdict: If you really are interested in seeing The Gentlemen, there is enough here to leave you satisfied. Especially if catching this during a matinee in the middle of the day, then it is a nice quick watch.
The later over-the-top characters and absurd moments that almost make up for the bad first impressions this had on me. I would watch this again with the ability to fast-forward against the parts that drag this bizarre gangster tale down.
What’s the best Guy Ritchie film? Name your least favorite film in the franchise. What are some great gangster flicks to come out the last year? Leave your comments!
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