Although director Guy Ritchie has been working for more than 20 years now and is responsible for titles such as Aladdin, The Man from UNCLE, and the Sherlock Holmes movies, it’s his first two movies that are still my favorite. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch were delightful British gangster films that stood out for their pacing and humor. With The Gentlemen, Ritchie returns to his roots.
Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) has built a successful cannabis empire in the UK. He has become very rich with it, but has decided to quit and start an early retirement. He has managed to find a buyer, but the news results in various schemes by others, including blackmail and violence, making it questionable whether Mickey will ever be able to really leave his past life behind.
The Gentlemen has an impressive cast and it’s a joy to see how much fun actors like Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant have in their roles. Ritchie manages to make a very slick film, playing with the form by having Hugh Grant’s Fletcher tell the story as if it were a movie at the beginning, including movie concepts that are then shown. With a lot of humor, violence, memorable moments and the necessary surprises (like Lock, Stock did), Ritchie proves that he is strong in this genre. A wonderful film that I will definitely watch again.
[score8]