The Gentlemen

The Gentlemen is a return to Ritchie's beginnings, i.e., frenzied gangster movies full of betrayals and dirty backstage games, filmed with evident irony and with the director's awareness that he wants to entertain his audience first and foremost. As Guy ages, his characters also age and transform. They are no longer bold little players consumed by ambitions, wanting to thrive among established tough guys, but rather powerful underworld figures who move among the social elites and contemplate stepping out of the illegal business so as not to harm their carefully built reputation. However, the big boss attracts the attention of those who would like to take his place in the food chain, and thus the last deal of his career unexpectedly gets complicated. Instead of content gangster retirement, he is forced to defend himself from attacks on all sides. Ritchie is usually able to come up with entertaining and unconventional characters, and this time was no exception. Besides the partly flamboyant, partly casual gang leader, it is primarily the cunningly corrupted tabloid journalist played by Hugh Grant who stands out. He once became famous for playing stereotypical heartthrobs in romantic comedies, but as he has aged, he has shifted to playing noble villains, usually with a subtle ironic twist and characterized by extremely developed vanity. To sum it up, I had a great time with it. I hope Guy Ritchie has not said his last word yet. Overall impression: 90%. (2021-12-27)

Guy Ritchie returns to the genre that made him famous and serves up a pure crime gangster flick that is probably the closest thing to Snatch. The film has a very unorthodox storytelling and at times it can seem confusing. Especially at the beginning I couldn't quite get into it, but somewhere in the middle I was enjoying truly it, and a big thanks goes to the awesome performances by the cast. Matthew McConaughey and Charlie Hunnam are traditionally excellent, Hugh Grant feels like in the role of a lifetime, and Colin Farrell steals all the scenes for himself and rips your diaphragm! Apart from the performances, the film is pulled up by the great black-dry British humour and the unexpected twists. Guy Ritche has made a playful, stylish, funny and unconventional gangster film and people will love it. 7.5/10. (2020-01-25)

Ritchie is a bit restrained this time and delivers a witty action-comedy with direct, typically British humour, which is not for everyone, but it has a sophisticated script and McConaughey as an alpha-male who is hard not root for. A film about drugs presented in such a way that it makes you believe it’s cool to be in the business. Of course, as long as you don’t complicate things, as is the case here. Among the superb, I would put Hugh Grant on top. After the insane mangling of the classic King Arthur, this is finally a return to waters Ritchie understands and relishes. The result does look accordingly, too. (2020-03-29)

It’s as if Guy Ritchie was sorry about Aladdin and came up with a movie his fans wanted to see. He was obviously enjoying himself. While I’m not one of those who haven’t been satisfied with Ritchie’s work from recent years, I truly enjoyed The Gentleman;it’s an entertaining movie with a smart and funny screenplay (the whole movie is actually an anecdote whose sole punch line is a single, almost the final, scene), excellent actors including Matthew McConaughey in the role of a modern Vito Corleone, go-getting and sure-handed direction... what more could you ask for? (2020-02-10)

This is how 2020 is supposed to start! The Gentlemen is Ritchie’s best film since Snatch, i.e. his best in 20 years. The screenplay is great in terms of both the dialogue and the plot with its polished characters, as well as the playful outlining of the narrative as if the script had been written by one of them. And, of course, the use of charismatic actors to make up the whole marvellous gang. I commend how Ritchie’s grown-up entertainment is verbally crude and a lot of people shout in it, but it doesn’t contain any graphic violence and emphasizes the difference between the immorality of the bad guys and the high character of the “good gangsters”. The Gentlemen is a maturely clever gangster film with elegance. McConaughey is the biggest boss in it, but Hunnam is the coolest guy. And, of course, Farrell is the funniest. (2020-01-28)