The Gentlemen

Following an extended vacation from London crime comedies, — which generated results ranging from the underrated King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) to the wretched Aladdin (2019) —  writer/director Guy Ritchie (Snatch; Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) makes a triumphant return to that world with The Gentlemen, a film that nearly atones for his Disney sins from last year.

Such results are a bit in doubt, however, in the early going of his latest feature. After a compelling introductory scene and one of the most creative opening credit sequences in recent memory, cued to the throwback charms of David Rawlings’ “Cumberland Gap,” Ritchie’s creakiness shows somewhat while the film takes its sweet time to hit its stride.

Framed as a hypothetical parable told by greasy blackmailer Fletcher (Hugh Grant, having a ball) to enforcer Ray (Charlie Hunnam), the film presents a twisty tale involving slighted newspaper editor Big Dave (Eddie Marsan, Vice) seeking revenge on Ray’s boss, marijuana kingpin Mickey (Matthew McConaughey), whose efforts to exit the drug game quickly become compromised.

Though it’s a pleasure to be back in Ritchie’s distinct gangster milieu, The Gentlemen trips over its narrative cleverness for much of its initial half-hour, which establishes Mickey’s rise to prominence and the range of characters vying to inherit his empire, including hopeful business buyer Matthew (Jeremy Strong, HBO‘s “Succession”) and Asian up-and-comer Dry Eye (Henry Golding, Last Christmas).

Atop this semicreaky storytelling, there’s also a general absence of the filmmaker’s textbook gusto style and playfulness with camera speeds, traces of which are even evident in his godawful Aladdin.

With The Gentlemen still building its case and dangerously noncommittal on the quality front, Colin Farrell blessedly swoops in to save the day and steal the show. Essentially playing a cooler, more relaxed version of his In Bruges assassin, his role as Coach is engaging from his first lines of dialogue and only grows more appealing by the minute as his importance to the proceedings intensifies.

Thanks to Farrell’s injection of personality and a gag involving a minor character named Phuc (Jason Wong, Solo: A Star Wars Story) — a gift that keeps on giving — the film at last takes off and rarely lets up, allowing the well-laid plot twists to unspool toward a rousing final stretch.

Consistent with Ritchie’s best work, discovering who’s one step ahead of whom is a treat while the meta elements add a new wrinkle to what could have been overly familiar territory. The greatest pleasure, however, is being back in the presence of a master filmmaker, doing what he does best.