RocknRolla - mini-review

I saw this film over the weekend with a group of girlfriends. Not all of us knew what we were in for. A girly pic this ain't, and it oozes with testosterone like Guy Ritchie's other gangster pics, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. It has the some of the same elements: British underworld, fast editing, impossibly large cast, but thankfully this time a woman in a prominent part. I love Thandie Newton's accountant character. She's cool and professional, but likes a bit of danger, which she seeks in Gerry Butler's One Two. Her eye rolls at his "dancing" had me howling.

Tom Wilkinson plays the lead gangster, and he looks like he had a ball. He's so often the retiring gentle man character, that it was just fun to see him be so bombastic. The standout new face for me was Toby Kebbell as Johnny Quid, the RocknRolla junkie. He has quite the presence, and since Guy is planning a trilogy if RocknRolla does well, the last scene of the movie hints that he'll have a big part in the sequel.

Of course, Gerard Butler was the best part of the movie for me. Finally, finally, he gets to show some of that humor of his in an action flick. Besides his hilarious dancing, I loved the scenes with his gay best pal. One Two (Gerry) thinks his friend is going to prison, and gives him a favor that last night. "So, what did you want to do to me?"

The serpentine plot is hard but not impossible to follow. It's typical complicated Ritchie. I liked Lock Stock and Snatch, and this is like them, so I like it, too. It didn't seem to have quite the same laugh out loud bits like Brad Pitt's accent in Snatch. Maybe some of the English humour went over my head. There were tons of little throw off moments that have me chuckling thinking of them even now, like the huge black gangster Tank who likes to watch English dramas like The Remains of the Day on DVD in his car!

Seeing what Guy Ritchie will do with Sherlock Holmes will be very interesting. Can he find success outside the modern London gangster world? I give RocknRolla three and a half stars. I certainly enjoyed it much more than a few of my girlfriends who I think thought we were seeing more of a chick flick!

Someone's seen RocknRolla!

Ain't It Cool News has a report from someone who saw a screening of Guy Ritchie's upcoming RocknRolla with Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson. The guy who saw it LOVED it:

I saw ROCKNROLLA, and it kicked MIGHTY ARSE. And while it doesn’t have the shock of the new, I reckon this is the best of Guy Ritchie’s good movies. And that bar’s pretty damn high. I saw it in London, where it’s set, although the London of the film is totally Ritchiefied. We’re back in Lock Stock and Snatch territory (thank fuck), where everyone has a name like One-Two or Mumbles, and speaks a deranged mockney argot. Come to think of it, they did that in Revolver too, but here we don’t have to deal with Jason Statham shouting at his own ego in a lift for minutes that felt like days.

Anyway, from the moment the opening credits not so much kick in as explode onto the screen – up there with Seven, Catch Me If You Can, and The Incredibles, in recent years – it’s clear Ritchie means business. He must know what dogs his last two movies were, he must know he won’t get too many more chances, but despite that, there’s a bravura confidence to this I wasn’t expecting. In the first five minutes we meet about a thousand characters, and if it wasn’t for Mark Strong’s splendidly laconic voiceover you’d be utterly lost. Even with it you’re struggling, but who cares? The camera’s flying around, the performances are mostly spot-on, the music kills.

The plot is basically about upstart oligarch Russians taking over London properties from the old-school likes of Lenny Cole, played by the reliably superb Tom Wilkinson. He’s having an extraordinary run right now, and this is a nice addition to the canon. His consigliere is the cool-as-all-shit Mark Strong, and the pair of them rock together. Lenny is owed a serious amount of money – I couldn’t tell you how much, not having understood the mockney slang – by a bunch of would-be gangsters, led by Gerard Butler’s One-Two, and it’s their attempts to get that money, inadvertently sabotaging Lenny’s deals with the Russian mogul every time, that form the central spine of the movie.

But like I said, there are any number of other spin-off storylines and characters, including various junkies, thieves, gangsters, pop stars, music promoters (the slightly underused Ludacris and Jeremy Piven), and a scheming accountant, played with drawling deadpan sexiness by Thandie Newton. While not even Guy Ritchie’s agent would argue that he can write good parts for women – anyone remember a female character in Lock Stock? Or Snatch? And then there’s Swept Away, which makes you glad there weren’t any women in the others – at least here the single note he gives Newton to play is a good one, and she seems to be having a fine old time.

As do all the others. Gerard Butler finds a nice line in self-mockery; he and Newton have a spectacularly uncool dancing scene together that drew howls of laughter from the audience. He’s kind of a dork, and all the cooler for it. Also in his crew are Idris Elba and Tom Hardy, whose romantic yearnings form the basis for some of the best jokes in the movie.

The Ain't It Cool News editor Moriarity also has this interesting news about Guy Ritchie:

Warner Bros loveses them some Guy Ritchie right now. ... Well, they’ve seen ROCKNROLLA by now, and we haven’t, and all of a sudden, Warner Bros is in the Guy Ritchie business in a big way. When I interviewed Joel Silver for the SPEED RACER release, he talked to me about how SGT. ROCK was set to finally find its way in front of the camera with Ritchie directing, the latest name in a long line of people who took their shot at that one. And Silver told me point blank that ROCKNROLLA works, that he thinks it’s awesome, and that it is a turning point for Ritchie as a director.

Read the rest of the report here, including news that there will definitely be a SEQUEL to RocknRolla!

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - mini-review

This weekend I did some homework -- some Guy Ritchie homework as I had never seen one of his films. He's directing Gerard Butler's upcoming RocknRolla due out this fall. I remembered lots of talk ten years ago about his wunderkind first movie as both writer and director: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. RocknRolla is supposed to be another English ganster caper film in a similar vein.

The film starts out with an amazing parade of characters. It feels confusing at first and you fear that you'll never figure out who goes with who. Roger Ebert joked in his review that he wished the gangsters were wearing nametags! And the Cockney language takes some getting used to. Ritchie had some authentic East Enders in the film and they use the rhyming slang of the streets-- "Chevy Chase" for face, for example.

This is a madcap plot, as we follow the adventures of Eddie and his pals as they get in over their heads with some local gangsters. Sting makes an appearance as Eddie's father and his bar is in danger as the big cheese gangster may demand it as payment for Eddie's debt.

This movie owes an homage to Quentin Tarrantino, but then what modern gangster film doesn't. It has lots of comedy mixed with the violence. You can certainly tell that Ritchie was a director of music videos and commercials. There are many stylistic flourishes -- lots of slo-mo and freezes, but I really enjoyed all that. It certainly was visually interesting! But the best thing is the characters and their names! I especially like Barry the Baptist -- evidently played by a former pro-wrestler in England. Jason Statham started his film career with Lock, Stock as one of Eddie's buddies named Bacon because he's spent so much time under arrest he's almost become a pig himself!

I give this excellent film 4 stars. It's really fun and has a satisfying finish after a wild ride. If you're looking forward to RocknRolla, you should really give this one a rental. Don't be put off by the confusing beginning -- it all makes sense by the end. I don't know if Guy Ritchie reached as great success again, but the man has talent, that's for sure. Have to check out Snatch next and let you know about that one, but I'll skip Swept Away (his film with Madonna). This film makes me even more anxious to see what he does with some bigger stars like Tom Wilkinson in RocknRolla. Can't wait! Guy Ritchie certainly is much more than just Mr. Madonna!

HBO's Recount - mini-review

I know, I know. You're sick of politics. You don't want to hear any more about the stolen election of 2000. That's the way I felt, too, and I was hesitant to watch HBO's Recount. I saw a rave review of it on Ebert & Roeper, so I thought I'd give it a try. Wow. This compelling film moves at a fast clip and even though you know the outcome, no one even at the time knew all the twists and turns the story takes. This film is chock-a-block FULL of stars doing amazing work. There are sure to be many Emmy nominations for this film, and Kevin Spacey and Laura Dern will be at the top of the list. The story is mostly told from the perspective of Gore's former chief of staff, played by Spacey, who headed up the recount fight in Florida. Laura Dern plays Katherine Harris in some of the film's funniest moments. This film does have plenty of humor, and according to the people who were in the middle of it at the time, captures the intensity and craziness of those fateful 36 days. The casting is spot on -- Tom Wilkinson as James Baker, John Hurt as Warren Christopher. Dennis Leary, Bob Balaban and Ed Begley, Jr. also are fantastic. What a cast! Jay Roach is known more for lighter films, and he really treated the subject with a deft touch. Trust me, this is a film worth watching if you have HBO -- and I'm sure it will be on DVD soon.