The Gentlemen
Year: 2019
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Henry Golding, Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam & Matthew McConaughey,
Runtime: 113 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 25/03/22
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Henry Golding, Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam & Matthew McConaughey,
Runtime: 113 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 25/03/22
I’m not much of a Guy Ritchie fan, the main reason being that I don’t much enjoy gangster films, which for Ritche are his bread and butter. Rising to fame with films like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch in the late 90’s/early 00’s, Ritchie has become a legend among British filmmakers. I loved his work on the Robert Downey Jr. starring Sherlock Holmes films, and I was pleasantly surprised by the live action adaptation of Aladdin that he directed in 2018. So, I was hoping that Ritchie may have brought some of what made those films so good into his gangster films with 2019’s The Gentlemen. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem the case.
Mickey Pearson (Matthew McCanaughey) rose from rags to riches by building a cannabis empire when he moved to the UK whilst studying at Oxford University. Wanting to retire from the business, Mickey is now seeking to sell his empire to billionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong). But when tabloid journalist Fletcher (Hugh Grant) approaches Mickey’s right hand man Raymond (Charlie Hunnam) with information pertaining to Mickey’s empire being at risk by rival businessmen, he wants twenty million to keep his mouth shut. Put in a difficult situation, Raymond hears Fletcher out whilst plotting how to handle the situation.
Mickey Pearson (Matthew McCanaughey) rose from rags to riches by building a cannabis empire when he moved to the UK whilst studying at Oxford University. Wanting to retire from the business, Mickey is now seeking to sell his empire to billionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong). But when tabloid journalist Fletcher (Hugh Grant) approaches Mickey’s right hand man Raymond (Charlie Hunnam) with information pertaining to Mickey’s empire being at risk by rival businessmen, he wants twenty million to keep his mouth shut. Put in a difficult situation, Raymond hears Fletcher out whilst plotting how to handle the situation.
The way The Gentlemen delivers its story is just so messy. The majority of it is told through flashbacks narrated by Fletcher directed at Raymond. But because neither character shows up for a pretty decent chuck of the films opening it’s difficult to understand why Fletcher is telling Raymond all of this. Then once the pieces do fall into place, you’re left with this feeling that the whole thing is so overly-dramatic and self-gratifying that the only reason it was ever written this way is to make the film seem smarter and more self-aware than it actually is.
When you get down to it, The Gentlemen is just another film glamourising thugs committing crimes under the pretence of being respectable 'businessmen' just doing an honest days work. That’s the main reason why I can’t get into gangster films, because they all make out like that life is highly glamourous and that the ones we’re supposed to root for are actually nice people despite all the terrible things they do; when in reality it’s all just a bunch of pompously violent clowns bickering over who’s got the biggest bollocks.
The performances couldn’t even save this with Hugh Grant being horrendously miscast as a camp tabloid journalist (clearly a dig at Grant’s personal dislike of the press), and McConaughey just coasting through it for the pay check. Hunnam delivers a respectable performance but it’s not overly memorable, just another foul-mouthed thug in a film about foul mouthed thugs.
Colin Farrell also delivers one of the worst performances of his career as a racial slur slinging boxing coach who justifies his inconsistent xenophobia by trying to explain why it makes sense that he can call someone out on the colour of their skin because it’s relevant to the problem (or some rubbish like that).
Henry Golding also stars in the film and I could never take him seriously because he just isn’t threatening. None of the other characters find him threatening either and I couldn’t tell whether that was then supposed to be the point, that he’s just some wannabe, or whether I was supposed to believe that they were all undermining him. Either way, I couldn’t take him seriously in that role.
Going into The Gentlemen I should have known that it wasn’t for me, so I don’t know why I’m surprised to come out of it having really not clicked with it. But for me The Gentlemen just did everything wrong. Bad casting, underwhelming performances, weird pacing, and a story delivery that to me just felt pretentious. I’m sure for fans of the gangster genre there is enjoyment to be had from The Gentlemen, but for me it’s two hours of my life I would rather have spent doing almost anything else.
When you get down to it, The Gentlemen is just another film glamourising thugs committing crimes under the pretence of being respectable 'businessmen' just doing an honest days work. That’s the main reason why I can’t get into gangster films, because they all make out like that life is highly glamourous and that the ones we’re supposed to root for are actually nice people despite all the terrible things they do; when in reality it’s all just a bunch of pompously violent clowns bickering over who’s got the biggest bollocks.
The performances couldn’t even save this with Hugh Grant being horrendously miscast as a camp tabloid journalist (clearly a dig at Grant’s personal dislike of the press), and McConaughey just coasting through it for the pay check. Hunnam delivers a respectable performance but it’s not overly memorable, just another foul-mouthed thug in a film about foul mouthed thugs.
Colin Farrell also delivers one of the worst performances of his career as a racial slur slinging boxing coach who justifies his inconsistent xenophobia by trying to explain why it makes sense that he can call someone out on the colour of their skin because it’s relevant to the problem (or some rubbish like that).
Henry Golding also stars in the film and I could never take him seriously because he just isn’t threatening. None of the other characters find him threatening either and I couldn’t tell whether that was then supposed to be the point, that he’s just some wannabe, or whether I was supposed to believe that they were all undermining him. Either way, I couldn’t take him seriously in that role.
Going into The Gentlemen I should have known that it wasn’t for me, so I don’t know why I’m surprised to come out of it having really not clicked with it. But for me The Gentlemen just did everything wrong. Bad casting, underwhelming performances, weird pacing, and a story delivery that to me just felt pretentious. I’m sure for fans of the gangster genre there is enjoyment to be had from The Gentlemen, but for me it’s two hours of my life I would rather have spent doing almost anything else.