It's been a long time since I've seen the films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, two films that I really liked at the time. The Gentlemen reminded me of why I enjoy so much, the mobster movies made by Guy Ritchie.
Michael Pearson , head of a drug trafficking empire, plans to retire, selling the entire successful structure of the organization to a Jewish millionaire for $400 million. Dry Eye, a young man on the rise within the Chinese mafia, enters the game, making him an offer to acquire the business and in addition, a group of young people who fight very well, and upload their exploits to the Internet, raid one of the secret headquarters where Michael grows marijuana. All this will cause betrayals, fights and confrontations, typical among these criminal gangs, to jeopardize the sale of the business. All dosed with a little violence and a lot of black humor.
The Gentlemen has all the signs that distinguish the director. Accelerated pace, black humor, voiceover, slow motion and fragmented narration. The story catches you and doesn't let go until the denouement.
I've enjoyed most of this filmmaker's films. He has his style, which he injects into the films he has made. He's given Ritchie style to Sherlock Holmes, to the man from U.N.C.L.E. and even to King Arthur.
There's one thing this man knows how to do: he can give stories a crazy beat, turning them into great entertainment products. What do we want from a movie? That it's pretty entertaining! That we don't stop looking at the screen, concentrating on the story.
Many of the director's followers criticized him for taking over the direction of the real-life version of Aladdin, the Disney film that was a box-office success. I didn't see it, because it doesn't attract my attention, and I'm not going to see it either. But I'm not going to criticize Ritchie for that. Every filmmaker has the right to do commissioned work, some are bound by a contract they signed. Besides, a couple of million dollars to do a job for hire doesn't hurt anybody. What would you do?
For this film, a fabulous cast of great actors has been put together, and they've had a great time making it. That's reflected on the screen. Each with their own moment to shine. There are some who, despite having less time on screen, manage to steal the show.
Collin Farrel is great in the few appearances, he suits the role of "The Coach" very well. Matthew McConaughey plays Michael Pearson, the gangster who has built an empire by trafficking marijuana, because marijuana doesn't kill anyone. Charlie Hunnam plays Raymond, Michael's right-hand man. He repeats with the director, after having starred in the King Arthur version. The other actor who makes it great is Hugh Grant, who plays the investigator Fletcher, a character who will guide the narration of almost all the film's footage.
It's a men's film. A lot of testosterone everywhere. That's my only regret. Actress Michelle Dockery plays Micheal's wife, Rosalind Pearson. The main character's weak point. The actress is known for the series Downton Abbey. The character she plays in the film, although she has her scene to show off, could have been more important. The actress already has experience playing rough women, I recommend seeing the mini-series Godless, an excellent western where she is one of the main characters.
The pig...making a clear self homage, in the movie there is a pig, protagonist of a scene that we never get to see, but just to imagine it, is to laugh and feel disgust at the same time. Harvey? The end of the film gives us another scene that produces the same feeling as the scene with the pig. You have to see it, you'll recognize it right away. The gangsters in The Gentlemen may be a little more refined than those seen in the director's first films, but twenty years have passed and we are not the same as before.
My Rankin: 4/5
Trailer
