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Hours after watching Guy Ritchie’s Revolver, my head’s still spinning just a little bit. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what to tell you about it—because I’m still trying to work it all out. But I’ll give it a try.
Revolver is the perplexing story of an ex-con named Jake Green (played by Jason Statham with hair). Jake served seven years in solitary because of his crooked boss, Macha (Ray Liotta), and he wants revenge. So after going underground for a couple of years, he shows up in Macha’s casino, ready to do some damage.
After Jake wins a pile of Macha’s money, Macha decides that he wants Jake dead—so he sends his goons to do the job. Enter Avi (the increasingly ubiquitous André Benjamin) and Zach (Vincent Pastore), two mysterious guys who offer to save Jake’s life—but their services don’t come cheap.
Right from the beginning, you’ll know that Revolver isn’t just a brainless action movie. There’s a lot going on—a lot of characters making a lot of deals—and it’ll keep you on your toes. You’ll spend the whole movie trying to keep up—because Ritchie tends to do a lot of jumping back and forth. He speeds up, and then he slows down. Basically, he puts you through an obstacle course and dares you to keep up. You’ll need to pay close attention—and, even then, you probably won’t get it all in the end. So if you like your movies clear and relatively simple, Revolver is guaranteed to drive you crazy.
A large part of the movie takes place over a chess board, as Jake explains the “rules of the game.” The object, he says, is to let your opponent do the hard work; make him think that he’s in control—that he’s making all the moves. Obviously, Ritchie doesn’t see his audience as his opponent—because not once while you’re watching Revolver will you feel like you have the slightest bit of control. You’ll feel like you’re being dragged along through the story, still trying to figure out what happened five minutes ago. And there’s so much to take in that much of it will fly right past you. You’ll miss the obvious clues, and you’ll struggle to follow the story. In a way, that’s a good thing—because when you go back and think about it, you’ll realize that the story’s set-up isn’t really that strong. There are plot holes along the way, but you won’t really notice—because before you can say, “Hey…wait a minute…” you’ll be chasing Ritchie somewhere else.
Revolver isn’t a watch-it-and-move-on kind of movie. You’ll watch it, and then you’ll think about it. You’ll discuss it. And then you’ll go back and watch it again—just to try to figure it out. It’s a movie that will make you think. And while it’s not exactly brilliant (on the level of, say, Memento), it’s pleasantly puzzling (and sometimes even maddening). It’s complicated, but at least it’s still fun to watch. It’s gritty and action-packed. The acting is wonderful. And, well, it just looks cool.
Revolver is a daring movie—and it’s one that you’ll either like (but probably not love) or hate. It isn’t Ritchie’s best—and it doesn’t come together as brilliantly as I would have liked—but, if nothing else, at least it’ll give your brain a good workout.
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