Review of RocknRolla (2008) by Zac H — 22 Jul 2010

2.5/4.0.

Writer-director Guy Ritchie returns to his gangster roots with "RocknRolla", which I have to say is fun but not near as good as its predecessors "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch". The eclectic characters include Tom Wilkinson (who is great fun here) as London mob boss Lenny Cole who calls the shots in the realty market, Mark Strong as his second man Archy (and the film's narrator), Karel Roden as Russian tycoon/gangster Uri who seeks Lenny's help on a new deal and lends Lenny his lucky painting until the deal is concluded, a sexy Thandie Newton as Uri's accountant Stella whom he assigns the money transfer to but she backstabs by telling a group of thieves called the Wild Bunch about the transfer to steal it, and Toby Kebbell as Lenny's estranged presumed-dead rock star stepson who is suspected of stealing Uri's lucky painting from his stepfather. The Wild Bunch include One Two (Gerard Butler who is also great as the rough one who gets to question his sexuality), Mumbles (Idris Elba) and Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy) who turns to be gay and has a crush on One-Two. I found the plot structure a little bit too organized and neatly orchestrated for a movie of its genre and that sort of took out some of the fun but still somwhat enjoyable.