Guy Ritchie is a more skilled filmmaker than people give him credit for. Sure, all of his films are similar in spirit – kinetic action films with a wry sense of extremely British humor, but his skill comes from knowing which element of his style needs to be highlighted on each individual project. Just last year he released two films, The Bund And Operation Fortunewith completely different tones – Operation Fortune leaning more towards screwball comedy, and The Bund It is an excellent and serious look at the tensions of wartime bureaucracy. But despite all this filmmaking flexibility, his fantastic new series on Netflix, The gentlemensees Ritchie return to his criminal roots in the UK and hone in on the vibe he does best.
Although it has the same title as a previous Ritchie film, The gentlemen isn’t exactly a direct sequel or remake of the film. Instead, it is more spiritually connected, particularly through the connections of drugs, boxing and British dynastic wealth – three things that Ritchie always seemed fascinated by as an artist.
The series follows Eddie (Theo James), a former soldier who is retired from the military after his father’s death so that he can take over his dukedom, which his father gave him in place of his older brother. While the title itself is a surprise, the bigger shock comes when Eddie finds out that his seemingly law-abiding father has been leasing his land to a drug empire for the past few years, a deal that Eddie wants to get the family out of as quickly as possible . Of course, he can only do this if he commits a whole series of crimes.
The gentlemen In particular, it should be instantly recognizable to anyone who has seen Ritchie’s previous work Lock, storage and two incense barrels or Snap. The show is full of gangsters with Coen brothers criminal buffoons and Tarantino movie mouths.
The difference from the early Ritchie films is the focus, at least in the first few episodes I’ve seen so far. Instead of jumping between perspectives, playing through half a dozen stories at once and waiting for them to converge, The gentlemen
By keeping things a little tidier than Ritchie has done in the past, The gentlemen gives us more time to understand and value his leads. The characters, particularly Eddie and Susie, are well-drawn and precise, more careful and interesting than any of Ritchie’s early gangsters, and deserve the attention the series gives them. Small gestures deeply reveal who these people are and how comfortable or uncomfortable they are with the violence that their illegal activities often necessitate.
Of course, it’s still a Guy Ritchie project, so the three main characters are constantly surrounded by a ridiculous, fascinating and deeply funny supporting cast. This is where the episodic format pays off, allowing these characters to enter the story as broad caricatures and then jump out of the story the moment they are no longer needed. The gentlemen
All of these gadgets have an unmistakable Guy Ritchie flavor, but also a different one The gentlemenHe takes great joy in seeing Ritchie’s feelings filtered through so many other people. While Ritchie is the creator of The gentlemen, he wrote and directed only two of the series’ eight episodes and worked as a staff member to oversee the rest. The episodes that Ritchie didn’t write still feel distinctly a part of his world, but with a slightly refreshing and different voice that helps make things fun.
Ritchie has had success in many different films and genres in recent years. Even his Sherlock Holmes films are refreshingly well made after a decade of boring blockbusters. But The gentlemen proves he’s no slouch when it comes to goofy gangsters, and he may even be better at it than ever before.
The gentlemen Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.