Review of The Gentlemen (2020) by Greenisgood — 09 Aug 2020

TL;DR - It has been a while that I have thoroughly and un-ironically loved a Guy Ritchie movie, King Arthur was trash but still fun and well Aladdin was middle of the road. After thoroughly enjoying the Sherlock Holmes movies the dry spell is over as The Gentlemen is Ritchie's style and storytelling firing on all cylinders, not as brilliant as Snatch but it is pretty close.

The Good.

When Ritchie broke on the scene with gypsy boxing legends and diamond heists his character writing and dialogue writing were the two shining beacons amidst his interesting and energetic style. This movie does the same making the characters the primary focus dissolving most of the big name actors into the on screen personas we see and build connections with.

Hugh Grant pulls out all the stops overturning his sweetheart typecast since Notting Hill into a slimy reporter with a sharp tongue and greedy nature. Matthew McConaughey carves out a niche for himself in such a way that even in a morally questionable role he still comes off as likable making you want to root for his character. Hunnam seems to have got a sweet spot as a supporting role to flex his acting chops in the right way here, since he is likable in King Arthur but from a so bad it is good perspective.

Special props for Michelle Dockery, Colin Farrell and Henry Golding stealing the scenes even in the limited screen time they were given.

Ritchie's stylistic choices works fantastically along with a witty and sharp script in this case co written by Ritchie with Davies and Atkinson who have all worked together before.

The Bad.

Very little is not entertaining in the movie. Maybe it could be a little slow the first 15 - 20 min, not in a slow burn kind of way just a little too restrained, but accelerates and picks up speed for the rest of it. Hopefully millennial and general short attention spans will give the movie more time than a cursory overview before deeming this movie boring, if that does happen well it is most definitely their loss.

The Gentlemen is a smart, sharp and entertaining watch that uses the Guy Ritchie's strength - riding the line of gritty realism and stylistic flair. If every Aladdin helps Ritchie makes a movie like this I am ok with that deal and will never again question his choice of directing something that makes no sense for Guy Ritchie to be involved with.