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Once upon a time, there was a promising young British director named Guy Ritchie. This young director made edgy crime thrillers that made audiences laugh as they perched on the edge of their seats—movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Things were looking up for this director. Then he met Madonna. And he made Swept Away. And things became very, very grim for poor Mr. Madonna.
Then, a few years ago, Ritchie emerged from his local Kabbalah Centre to make Revolver—and, despite the fact that the movie was more than just a little bit perplexing, at least it wasn’t Swept Away. And that left some of us feeling hopeful that somewhere, behind the paparazzi and the adoption drama and everything else, Guy Ritchie might live on.
Now, just after announcing his split from Her Madgesty, Ritchie releases the best movie he’s made in years. Coincidence? Maybe not. And while I do believe in the sanctity of marriage and all that, I’m also really, really happy to have the old Guy back.
RocknRolla is a good old-fashioned Guy Ritchie crime thriller about a whole bunch of crooks of all shapes and sizes—and the greed that has them eating each other alive. When Russian businessman Uri (Karel Roden) arrives in London to build a new stadium, he needs help from Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) and his various associates to get the plans approved. But while Lenny believes that he owns London, a bored accountant, a bunch of thugs for hire, and a junkie rock star might just prove him wrong.
This twisted, tangled, and wildly entertaining adventure proves that you can’t keep a good writer/director down. Ritchie is (finally!) back at the top of his game—and he’s invited a stellar cast to his homecoming celebration. From Wilkinson to Toby Kebbell (who plays rocker Johnny Quid) to Gerard Butler (who plays tough guy One Two), the ensemble of actors perform their roles with hearty doses of both grit and wit. Butler, especially, has a whole lot of fun with his role—and whether he’s fighting or dancing or bungling his way through a foolproof job, he’s a whole lot of fun to watch, too.
But Ritchie didn’t exactly leave his cast with nothing to work from. His writing is sharp and fast-paced and sometimes even poetic. And although the story isn’t especially mind-blowing or thought-provoking, it’s clever, it’s thrilling, and it’s often even laugh-out-loud funny—thanks to the delightfully shady characters. It all moves so quickly—and there’s just so much to see (and hear)—that, after you watch it once, you’ll want to go back and watch it again.
Not since Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels have junkies and crooks been this much fun. It’s good to have you back, Guy.
DVD Review:
Despite the fact that the special edition DVD release of Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla comes in a two-disc set, it actually offers surprisingly few special features. “How does that work?” you ask? Well, it works because one of the discs contains a digital copy of the film and nothing more. And while that digital copy is definitely nice to have (and I definitely intend to take advantage of it on an upcoming flight), it makes the whole two-disc thing look more feature-packed than it really is.
Granted, Guy’s been kinda busy lately with personal matters and all, but I was still a bit surprised to find just three items on the special features menu. There’s one deleted scene, featuring Gerard Butler’s One Two attempting to hold a conversation while jogging on a treadmill. There’s an insightful and entertaining commentary, in which Ritchie and actor Mark Strong discuss everything from filmmaking to scotch. There’s also a short feature called Guy’s Town, which is part making-of feature and part tribute to London.
If you’re looking for a whole bunch of cool RocknRolla features, you’ll be looking for a long, long time. But, really, that doesn’t matter. Don’t pick up the DVD for the features; pick up a copy because it’s a great movie that you’ll want to watch more than just once.
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