The Gentlemen (2020)

Guy Ritchie is back. Having made his name with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, then spending years between commercial blockbusters, he returns to the crime ensemble genre that is his forte with The Gentlemen. The result is not quite the pinnacle of his crime films, but it is a welcome and entertaining return after a long absence. Rating: ★4.0.

What it’s about — A drug empire negotiating its retirement

Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) is an American who has built a marijuana empire in England. When he attempts to sell the business and retire, various interested parties get entangled in the deal. The film proceeds through a frame narrative in which private detective Fletcher (Hugh Grant) visits Mickey’s fixer Ray (Charlie Hunnam) with information he has collected and attempts to negotiate. The way Fletcher narrates the events becomes the narrative structure itself — a distinctive configuration.

Direction — A frame narrative that hides the whole picture

The Ritchie rhythm is alive and well. Rapid-fire dialogue, multi-layered plot, and back-to-back surprises run without pause. The frame narrative isn’t merely a formal experiment — it is a device that stacks story within story, keeping the audience from knowing the full picture until the very end. The energy of Ritchie’s early work from the late 1990s is present, alongside an impression that the direction has grown more skilled with the years.

Performance — Hugh Grant shedding his image

The biggest discovery is Hugh Grant. In this film he plays a cunning, garrulous detective whose calculations are always precise — a performance that completely shed the image from his romantic comedy years. The character, constructed differently down to vocal tone and gait, drives the film’s vitality throughout. Matthew McConaughey is as natural in this role as if he was born for it, and Charlie Hunnam’s Ray competently fulfills his role as the central axis managing the chaos.

Colin Farrell appears in a brief role across multiple scenes that are the film’s most comedically intense moments, confirming once again how accomplished he is at this kind of comedy.

What the film says — Entertainment that revels in desire and collision

What this film is saying is not particularly complex. Power and loyalty, betrayal and negotiation, and the opportunists that exist everywhere. Guy Ritchie is not attempting to deliver a moral message so much as showing the desires and collisions of people who live in that world as entertainment. Taking it lightly is quite sufficient.

Ratings & reception

IMDb gives it 7.8 and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 76% — a Fresh rating. Critics generally welcomed Ritchie’s return to the genre. Audience reactions were broadly favorable. There are views expressing disappointment by comparing it directly with Lock, Stock or Snatch, but it is widely regarded as one of the standout crime ensemble films of the 2020s.

What falls short

The raw energy or unexpected brutality of Ritchie’s early work is reduced. It has a more polished and managed feel — which is a strength but will disappoint some long-time fans. The multi-layered plot also has moments of difficulty. In particular, tracking the names and relationships of the various characters that Fletcher introduces within his narrated structure is not easy for first-time viewers encountering them all at once. The film moves forward quickly, and there are moments when you want to go back and check something you missed. Some subplots also feel as though they exist primarily for humor or a gimmick rather than for the film’s overall tension — a proportion that can feel excessive. Even so, the overall quality is high, and the satisfaction of having all the puzzle pieces fit at the ending is well-earned.

Verdict

For audiences who enjoyed Ritchie’s crime ensembles, this is a welcome return. First-time viewers can also fully enjoy the experience of rapid-fire dialogue and accumulating surprises. Hugh Grant alone is reason enough to watch.

Recommended for

• Fans of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch or Lock, Stock
• Viewers who enjoy fast dialogue and multi-layered plots
• Anyone who wants humor and tension together in the crime genre