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Written by: Guy Ritchie
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Idris Elba, Thandiwe Newton, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy, Toby Kebbell, Jeremy Piven Chris 'Ludacris Bridges, Gemma Arterton
Rated: R
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Plot
A small-time con artist and his pals attempt a real-estate ruse that ensnares them in an ever-widening series of scams.
Verdict
It's another complicated Guy Ritchie gangster movie with a twisting plot, and what makes it fun is the ineptness of the criminals, the dialog, and the way the plot and characters intersect. It's a similar plot to his other London gangster movies where half the characters want a valuable object and the other half don't realize it's worth, but it's never less than entertaining due to a brisk pace and sharp banter. Various colorful characters are all stealing from each other, frequently unaware. While it feels like Ritchie is following a similar formula, I'm fine with him working in his own sub-genre.
Watch It.
Review
While the plot and even the character archetypes are similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), this is different enough and certainly entertaining.
One-Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba) are cheated on a land deal by old school mobster Lenny (Tom Wilkinson) and his right-hand man Archie (Mark Strong). Lenny is instead making a deal with Uri to bribe the council and cut through red tape. Uri loans Lenny his lucky painting to finalize the deal. Unfortunately Uri's accountant Stella (Thandiwe Newton) double crosses him, using One-Two, Mumbles, and their gang the Wild Bunch to steal the sizable bribe. They're going to use it to pay Lenny. And that's just the start.
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| Gerard Butler, Idris Elba play One-Two, Mumbles |
It's the lack of communication and clarity between the characters that makes Ritche's movies fun. These criminals operate independently, and they obvously don't want to publicize your crimes. That leads to complications when they're robbing each other.
Uri attempts to pay Lenny again. Stella sells him out using the Wild Bunch again. This time Uri has taken precautions. The second time is nowhere near as easy with two German heavies. Uri begins to wonder if Lenny is behind the robberies. Lenny has lost the painting, and Uri wants it back due to his string of bad luck. The delay in bribe money is stretching Lenny's city council contact. Lenny's delay in returning the painting is making Uri suspicious. Everyone is in a pinch
Invariably you have all of these groups mixed up and meeting at one place. In this movie it's One-Two's place. Uri's goons show up and incapacitate him Mumbles and Bob (Tom Hardy) show up with information on an informant and rescue One-Two, but then Archie's guys show up and capture them all.
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| Thandiwe Newton, Gerard Butler play Stella, One-Two |
The wild card through this movie is Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell). He's a drug addicted musician that's just faked his death to boost his record sales. He's the only character with our fear or concern. That's no easy feat surrounded by all of these degenerates. He stole the painting from his step-father Lenny, had it stolen from him, and it was then sold to a member of the Wild Bunch. Ultimately Uri discovers it in an unlikely location.
Just as the Wild Bunch is about to meet their end, they hand over the legal documents containing information on the informant, and that's when this movie takes another twist.
A cast of colorful characters add depth to the movie with all of them converging in one place for the finale. While it doesn't feel as groundbreaking as Ritchie's earlier gangster movies due to the similarities, it's still entertaining. For the record Snatch is easily the best of the bunch.
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