The Gentlemen: Movie Review

After several odd years out of the crime genre, Guy Ritchie is back into his specialty with the crime film "The Gentlemen" - and it shows. The film is chock full of fun, mystery, unexpected twists and turns and even a lot of laughs. It's a quirky mind-bender that will leave you intrigue from start to finish.

American expat Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) has built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. He has decided to sell the business since he thinks that his dark past will prevent it from growing even further. But when word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business, a host of colorful, if entirely illegitimate figures scheme, bribe and blackmail their way to try and steal Mickey’s million dollar domain out from under him.

The first thing that caught our attention with "The Gentlemen" was its very unconventional storytelling. It's not straightforward literally and figuratively. The main story was unveiled in bits and pieces mostly narrated by the blackmailing Fletcher amazingly played by veteran actor Hugh Grant. To give you an idea how crazy the narrative of "The Gentlemen" goes into, it's technically a film within a film - an "Inception" like experience that makes "The Gentlemen" very unique and memorable. To even amp things up further, the story is unveiled in the words of Fletcher himself who is an unreliable source of context. There's always a sense that what you're getting could be completely exaggerated and fictional. It works both ways as the film had our attention 100% of the time but it was still confusing and convoluted to follow. For those looking for an action-packed film, then "The Gentlemen" won't scratch that itch. Aside for a handful of small fights and chases, the film concentrates on script and story more than anything else. The strongest point for the film was easily its actors. Surprisingly though, Matthew McConaughey took a back seat against Hugh Grant and Colin Farrell. Hugh Grant was simply a joy to watch as the eccentric and dirty-playing Fletcher. He was the main source of our amusement and for a role that mostly narrated stuff, he made his performance stand out. Colin Farrell on the other hand utilized the little screen time he had given to great use and came out as one of the main characters for the film. Overall, "The Gentlemen" will amuse you with its twisted turn of events. It's a film jam-packed with surprises and one that never overstayed its welcome.

Rating: 4 reels




Why you should watch it:
- the script is one hell of a ride
- Hugh Grant steals the show

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the action takes a back seat
- the unconventional storytelling and timeline fails to make sense at times