‘RocknRolla’ film review

Fans of Guy Ritchie rejoice, because (a) he’s left Madonna and (b) he’s finally making good movies again. Coincidence? I think not.

Cast

Gerard Butler
Tom Wilkinson
Karel Roden
Thandie Newton
Mark Strong
Toby Kebbell

Director

Guy Ritchie

Plot

Lenny Cole is the man to see in London if one is interested in getting into the property game, and Uri Obomavich is a Russian billionaire who is extremely interested. Lenny is not a very nice person, having cheated the Wild Bunch, a group of toughs who are out of their depth in the real estate game and who are now in debt to Lenny.

Throw in a double-crossing vixen of an accountant, Stella, who hires the Wild Bunch to steal Obomavich’s money not once but twice; a lucky painting that goes missing; two Russian heavies who refuse to die; and a gay City lawyer, and we have a rock and rolling ride through London’s back streets.

Verdict

This is a wonderfully crafted movie that bears all the hallmarks of a classic Guy Ritchie effort. No big Hollywood names in the cast, but wonderful directing and acting lift ‘RocknRolla’ back to the heights of ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and ‘Snatch’.

Review

Guy sticks to what he knows and does best in ‘RocknRolla’. After ill-advised forays overseas in the rusty and clanking Madonna vehicle ‘Swept Away’ (2002) and the Las Vegas mind-bender ‘Revolver’ (2005), Guy Ritchie finally returns to the city and the formula that made his name in ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ (1998) and ‘Snatch’ (2000).

The city is London, and the formula is classic Ritchie. We have fast-paced dialogue with dazzlingly colourful language and regional accents (I count Scottish, east London, Russian, Scouse, indeterminate American, faux-posh and pukka-posh in there). We have an insistently obnoxious pounding soundtrack and epilepsy-inducing series of jump cut action scenes, flashy fight routines with extremely bloody but stylised violence.

And of course we have the wonderfully menacing characters that only Ritchie can illustrate in such a dark yet humerous light. The characters from ‘The Wild Bunch’ are made up of such diverse no-gooders as One-Two (Gerard Butler), Mumbles (Idris Elba), Cookie (Matt King) and Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy); the Russian mob with a deliciously wicked Roman Abramovich reference in Uri Obamavich (Karel Roden); Lenny (Tom Wilkinson) the xenophobic hardman with a predilection for American crayfish, seeking to make the step up to the big time and accompanied by his faithful and loyal underling, Archie (Mark Strong); and the unbalanced junkie rock star Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell) with the philosophising bent, flanked by his hapless producers Roman (Jeremy Piven) and Mickey (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges). Uri’s incredibly sexy accountant, Stella (Thandie Newton), ticks the sex appeal, love interest, wild card and eye candy boxes admirably, although her weary sophistication tends to irritate after a while.

The plot is a terribly convoluted one, but suffice it to say that Ritchie has outdone himself this time. There are more characters, more angles and more colours to this multifaceted Rubik’s cube than in his previous underworld movies. The motivations are sex, money, power, violence and funnily enough, a small element of love. Even (here’s a teaser for you) homosexual love, the love that dares not speak its name, especially for Handsome Bob and… a word of warning: those expecting a neat conclusion to the movie will be disappointed. Ritchie has said that there will be a sequel (maybe even a trilogy) based on the characters that survive at the end.

But at the bottom of it all is Ritchie’s trademark and impeccably evil sense of humour. Writing-wise, the director revisits the heights of ‘Lock, Stock…’ and ‘Snatch’. The chemistry between the characters plays off into tense situations only barely resolved with a laugh and a biff to the head. Whether it’s a quick throwaway line by Johnny Quid, the little-Englander xenophobia of Lenny (“these facking immigrants!”), the bumbling incompetence of One-Two and gang, good ol’ gay jokes (one of the most excruciatingly hilarious moments in the movie), or simple moments of pure absurdist randomness (look out for a clip of ‘Remains of the Day’ (1993) in the unlikeliest of places), Ritchie outdoes himself. This is side-splitting stuff. Alan Horn, president of Warner Bros, thinks that ‘RocknRolla’ might be too English for the US. Hell, it might be too English for the English!

Fans of Ritchie need not worry. He hast returneth to the fold. The scenery may have changed a little – we have less of the dingy East End alleys and grubby spivs ducking in and out of seedy dives and more art museums, football stadiums, City offices, posh mansions, public schools, fancy restaurants and yachts – but the slime and grime of London criminalia infests it all. In the incestuous London underworld where everybody knows your name, Ritchie reigns.

Originally written for the Biography Channel, and can be found here.

~ by hanntu on November 15, 2008.