☆ ☆ ☆ ½
The Gentlemen (2019) – G. Ritchie
After a few duds, Guy Ritchie has gone back to
his trademark formula (Lock, Stock etc.) to offer up this easy-going action
flick that is, well, all style and not much substance. Sometimes that’s what you want but it isn’t
going to inspire any deep thinking.
Matthew McConaughey is an American expat who has set up a very large cannabis
syndicate in the UK, which he now wishes to sell. However, the potential buyer and the
competition are not particularly trustworthy.
We learn this because the story is told in flashback by Hugh Grant who
plays a private detective who has been following the action and is now prepared
to blackmail McConaughey by exposing him to the press. He reveals what he knows to McConaughey’s
loyal deputy (Charlie Hunnam) and the plot moves back and forward between the
flashbacks and the interaction between Grant and Hunnam. Colin Farrell is good
in a small well-defined role. It’s all a bit of fun but laced with profanity
and sometimes derogatory slurs for ethnic and sexual minorities (why include
this, I always think – it undercuts the fun).
As usual, the plot clicks into place with a few surprises -- but are
surprises surprising when you expect them?
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