Guy Ritchie is back after his 2019 remake of the beloved “Aladdin” saw critics and audiences divided with a 57% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, audiences showed their love with a 94% audience score. “The Gentlemen” is a much different film from “Aladdin,” but would it fare the same?
“The Gentlemen” features an absolute all-star cast including Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell, Charlie Hunnam and Henry Golding. Mickey Pearson, played by McConaughey, hosts a largely profitable marijuana farm in London, but when he becomes ready to get out of the business, rival gangs will stop at nothing to buy out his farm.
With a movie like this, you will sometimes get big name actors that mail in their performances and don’t give much effort, but everyone involved seemed to really care about the script and their roles.
Charlie Hunnam and Hugh Grant were on screen a lot together as their characters Ray and Fletcher respectively, so their chemistry was established from the get go and they were awesome. Grant was hilarious and Hunnam had a more sly and cool vibe to his character
Matthew McConaughey was really good as the more serious player in the film. Jeremy Strong and Henry Golding were good in their supporting roles as well.
Most of the characters weren’t just one-dimensional plot devices — they had reasons for what they were doing and made the audience care.
On the surface, the plot of “The Gentlemen” sounds like a silly, but the structure of the story and the depth to the characters really elevate the movie. The film took some time to get off the ground, but when it did, it was very suspenseful. I was expecting the movie to not take itself very seriously, but the more tense moments didn’t feel off-putting or out of place.
Some people may have a problem with the story-telling style. It’s told in a unique way that I can’t go much into without spoiling things, but look at it as a non-linear story structure. It’s told out of order in some ways.
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The unique style of humor may not come off the right way for some people. However, it worked for me and it seemed to work for the others in the theater.
2020 is off to a surprisingly awesome start. “The Gentlemen” may be hard to follow for some, but ultimately it provides quality performances, entertainment and humor. If you’re looking for a fun time at the theater, this is definitely a good choice.
I give “The Gentlemen” a nine out of 10. I was expecting a seven or so. It definitely exceeded my expectations.
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