'The Gentlemen' A Review

The Gentlemen is a crime comedy from writer/director Guy Richie about the waning days of UK pot baron Mickey Pearson(Matthew McConaughey). The film opens on skeezy tabloid investigator Fletcher(Hugh Grant) surprising upper management gangster Raymond(Charlie Hunnam) in his home in an attempt at blackmail. The story unfolds as a series of flashbacks and flourishes as Fletcher lays out to Raymond what he knows and why he should be paid off.

The real star is Grant who clearly relishes this vile, immoral, horny, and hilarious pariah and his energy and exuberance is utterly infectious. He serves as the defacto narrator and absolutely makes the movie, without his effervescent slime it would slide into tedium. The rest of the cast isn't as inspired- Hunnam and Colin Farrell(as a local boxer) are good as always, Henry Golding does well in his first real opportunity as a heavy, Michelle Dockery simply isn't given enough to do, but the big glaring issue is McConaughey as the lead. It seems his walked straight from his Lincoln commercials, throws on a preposterous vaguely moneyed accent, and sports the same hair and dirty facial hair he has for his past ten films. He barely does anything beyond showing up and as such he's at best boring and at worst distracting.

One of the pleasures of a Guy Richie film, much like the late great Tony Scott, is that yes he has a particular bag of tricks but he's the only one who ever uses them- numerous smash cuts, non-linear structure, 4th wall breaking, visual digressions- all make a relatively conventional semi-dated gangster picture if not innovative then unquestionably entertaining. The Gentlemen is clearly Richie's attempt at getting back to his Lock Stock and Snatch roots and if he's not altogether successful Grant's performance alone makes it worth watching and gets it closer to that late 90's nostalgia then it has any right to be.

Rent It.