Review of The Gentlemen (2020) by Sierra-117 — 16 Apr 2020

2020s most recent comedy gangster flick from English director Guy Ritchie can be described in one way and one way only:

Pure Ritchie magic!

The Gentlemen is, in my opinion, without a doubt the best film in Ritchies career since Snatch (2000). It shares many of the common traits of his previous work; with a complex narrative full of plot twists, an extremely colorful cast of characters, lots of quotable dialogue and the inevitability that everything will shortly spiral out of control. However unlike movies such as Snatch, and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Gentlemen’s narrative is relatively easy to follow, which I’m sure will benefit audiences new to his style of filmmaking. The story is explained to us step by step by Hugh Grant’s devious investigator Fletcher, who adopts a Cockney accent (which is refreshing considering Grant has been typecast as a posh British romcom lead in the past). However as towards the end of the movie, it kind of feels like there is just an endless supply of plot twists that keep coming, some of which are contrived and become slightly tiring. There are also some really neat editing tricks that go much appreciated, and some small moments of just clever writing, like playing out a scenario only for you to realize that it was a figment of Fletcher’s imagination, and to see the scene play out again only vastly different.

I mentioned before that Ritchie’s films have always had a variety of colorful characters, but in the Gentlemen they are particularly memorable. From Mathew McConaughey’s ruthless but calculated Mickey Pearson, to Charlie Hunnam’s loyal and merciful Ray, every significant character is unique and exceedingly well acted. Many of the characters have some extremely enjoyable interactions with very well written dialogue, most of the highlights being Hunnam and Grant. The lines bounce off of each of them so well, and I found myself laughing quite frequently during their exchanges. I will say however, that Americans should be warned. A large majority of the humor might go over some of your heads, as it is based on the attitudes of members of English society, that aren’t often shown in movies. I saw a review from IGN that gave the film a meager 4/10, and I got the impression that they didn’t really know what they were talking about. Ultimately, the Gentlemen is lots of fun, and I recommend you check it out.