Review of The Gentlemen (2020) by Moviemitch96 — 26 Jan 2020

I'd only consider myself a casual Guy Ritchie fan, having enjoyed some of his previous British crime films, such as 'Snatch' and 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' just fine. The cast and premise of this film were enough to intrigue me to give this latest outing of his a go.

Matthew McConaughey plays an American-born drug lord residing in England, who plans to retire and sell off his business. However, it doesn't go so simply, as he's marked for death by many hitmen and criminals who want in on his fortune and position of power, which in turn, involves various other criminals throughout England.

The cast is easily the best thing about this film! McConaughey gives an always reliably charismatic lead performance, along with some rather humorous supporting turns from Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant to name a few.

The action and fights are quite fun to watch, and there are some funny moments to be had. However, story-wise, it came up a bit short for me. Things get a little overly convoluted and the movie dragged itself out a little longer than I would've liked.

The film took its time with a couple plot points longer than necessary too in my eyes. Overall, it's a welcome return to form for Guy Ritchie, as he's mainly been focusing on big budget fare like 'King Arthur' and the live-action 'Aladdin' as of late, and there's some funny lines and moments throughout, but the story's a little too convoluted and dragged out for its own good that it didn't quite justify the handful of moments I did enjoy.

I anticipate those who are bigger fans of Ritchie's British crime films will enjoy it a little more than I did.