The Gentlemen: An Entertaining Peek into the Business Side of Crime

Guy Ritchie's 2019 film, The Gentlemen, had me from the first scene. Matthew McConaughey plays Mickey Pearson, the owner of a very profitable marijuana buisness who's looking to sell and settle down with his gorgeous wife, played by the lovely Michelle Dockery. Unfortunately retirement doesn't come easy for Pearson when an entourage of unsavory characters and disastrous events threaten to spoil his plans.

If Matthew McConaughey and Michelle Dockery weren't enough for you, The Gentlemen boasts an even further impressive cast. Hugh Grant plays a sleezy private investigator who doesn't care who he betrays as long as he gets the biggest payout. Charlie Hunnam plays Mickey's somewhat eccentic right hand man who gives off a very zen vibe right up until he reveals the machine gun hidden under his coat. Colin Ferrell appears as "Coach" who accidently gets mixed up in all the craziness due to the foolishness of his young pupils. The film also features Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan and Henry Golding.

This film had so many strong points for me. The whole story is presented by Hugh Grant's character, Fletcher, in a screenplay-type narration of events. I quite loved seeing him step out of his more traditional roles in rom-coms and period dramas into this much more gritty character. Coach and his boys, The Toddlers, provided some pretty entertaining comic relief while also being bad-ass and effective. I found it refreshing to leave behind the overly flashy and wild lifestyles of your typical Hollywood drug lords for the laid back, sophisticated world of Mickey Pearson complete with beautiful English countrysides and stylish tartan blazers. The music also adds to the ambiance with excellent songs like Cumberland Gap and Sunshine of Your Love. I even found myself enjoying the fun song Bugzy Malone wrote, called Boxes of Bush, for The Toddler's foray into YouTube "fight porn".

Overall I felt like Guy Ritchie was able to take a story that was really quite dark, including such unsettling topics as rape and drug overdose, and produce a film that felt light and fun while also being complex and interesting. From the beginning to the end you were presented with puzzle pieces that came together quite satisfactorily in the end despite all the plot twists along the way. This film will certainly be in my top 5 list for many years to come.