The Gentlemen - Review

The Gentlemen

“The Gentlemen” is a 2019 action crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie (Snatched). The film stars Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Charlie Hunnam (FX Sons of Anarchy), Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) , Jeremy Strong (Zero Dark Thirty), Eddie Marsan (Miami Vice & Showtime’s Ray Donovan), Colin Farrell (Miami Vice and The Lobster and Hugh Grant (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually & About A Boy).

Taking place entirely in the UK we meet early the principle character in the film a prominent seemingly respected middle age businessman named “Mickey Pearson” (McConaughey). He is American who was born in object poverty but still managed to excel academically. So much so that it eventually won him a full Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University. But even with a full academic ride “Mickey” needed some cash to live on so he decides to start selling some high-quality US grade marijuana to his privileged aristocratic and wealthy fellow students . But even though it’s a side job it eventually proves to be a very lucrative endeavor making him wealthy very quickly, which leads him to deciding to drop out of school that also ultimately leads him into building the biggest and best marijuana drug operation in all of the UK.

But after nearly 25+ years now “Mickey” wants to get out of the drug game, so he plans to sell his lucrative business to a fellow American billionaire named “Matthew Berger” (Strong) for $400 million so he can retire peacefully with his cockney fearless independent but always refined wife “Rosalind”. But when the word quickly gets out that he's looking to cash out of the drug business, it soon triggers an array of plots and schemes from an array of unseemly characters, con men, gangsters and personal haters who now see it as their golden opportunity to take his fortune away from him even if it means he has to die.

REVIEW: Delicious !!!. Not since his previous 2000 film work “Snatch” has Director Ritchie excelled so well in delivering an intricate plot of multiple characters that was not only easy to follow, but also great fun to watch and equally great fun to hear with a dialogue that was intellectually rich, smart, witty, hilarious and always clever. FYI, smart talking people in films always gets my cinematic juices flowing.  

Clearly, Ritchie is drawing some story inspiration (just a smidgen) from “The Usual Suspects”, just another smidgen from “The Godfather” and a lot of stylized influences from “Pulp Fiction”. His effort here makes this film one of the best well-acted ensemble cast I have seen in recent memory with its comic dramatic matrix blended tale of deception, greed and high IQ double crossing intrigue. And while the film does have a few moments of real dramatic action that included some appropriate warranted bloody violence, it still managed overall to just  keep me laughing out loud several times. Mostly through the smart infusion of an array of seemingly unrelated characters from varying, unconnected social economically backgrounds who all got coincidentally entangled in a criminal mess that I can only visually equate to observing a bunch of male Belgian Malinois dogs moving in collective circles in some kind of an intellectual butt sniffing contest just to see who is the biggest bad ass alfa male in the room. And if the men were not enough to keep you fully engaged Michelle Dockery’s portrayal as the sexy confident smart wife “Rosalind” made the film even better. And while her role was small in length her acting was still very effective including her introduction into the film by wearing the most seductive highest Manolo Blahnik “Cleopatra-esque” stiletto red sole shoes that for me…………….Well, lets just say she would get a rise out of dead celibate monk.

But as great as the entire cast was in the film with its intricate and clever exchanges that are replete with surprises that never got boring, the real memorable performance was Hugh Grant. I have seen a lot of his work over 30 years and I think this is his best work ever as the singularly focused scene stealing con man named “Fletcher”. With loads of smart funny flamboyance, you won’t even believe its Grant as he works his deceptive charms and guile on Charlie Hunnam character named “Raymond” who works for “Mickey” as his loyal legal consigliere.

Also, of note Hunnam manages to deliver some very effective work as well, especially midway through the film that for me was very eerily similar to Quentin Tarantino’s “Jules Winnfield” Big Kahuna Burgers scene. Just like “Jules”‘ his “Raymond” owned the room  by being both politely erudite while also equally menacing in the same manner and style of Samuel L. Jackson’s effort in “Pulp Fiction”.

Running 1:55 minutes, “The Gentlemen” is a throwback kind of effort film, and while it doesn’t reinvent the stylish crime genre, it’s still a film that never stops giving you so much delight. And while the cockney accents, the colloquial way some people pronounced familiar words and a few hazy scene transitioning that collectively caused some brief moments of confusion, overall it still exuded pure rambunctious charisma and charm that from this viewer perspective made the entire film a dazzle  to watch.

“The Gentleman”………………… “Oh what a delectable tangled web we weave when first we practice to hilariously, decadently and smartly deceive”.

3.75 Stars