Movie Review - Rock N Rolla

Welcome back Guy Ritchie! Here's to real live, heart pumping, pulse jumping, pedal to the medal filmmaking. Nobody does it better. From the opening beats to the sweet mano e mano dance over the closing credits, this movie is pure Guy at his best. It's style, off beat humor, deadbeat characters, all with a kick this writer/director seems to deliver effortlessly. Taking one of the oldest plots around --- small and big time tough guys scrambling for riches -- Ritchie turns the tired story on its head, filling it with fresh, unpredictable predicaments, crazy characters and plenty of nasty humor. In fact, Ritchie himself has made a career out of retelling this same story, or something very similar, over and over again, yet every time it's as though it's never been told quite this way before. How does he do it? Impossible to say, but it's a mystery I'd rather simply enjoy than solve.

We're back in London, the new London of multi-million dollar development deals, slick Russian operators, crooked construction scams and a rapidly changing cityscape of modern chrome and steel where underworld types roam and clash. Tom Wilkinson plays Lenny, a ruthless gangster who strikes a deal with Uri (Karel Roden), a Russian guy with bottomless pockets and a "lucky" painting that becomes an unexpectedly crucial part of the action. In order to complete construction on the huge complex he wants to build, Uri must go through Lenny to bypass the usual city requirements to the tune of $7 million. Of course along the way everything not only goes awry but a motley assortment of fortune hunters comes out of the woodwork to chase the pot of cash, including a couple of lowlife pals named One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba) who have a knack for messing up almost everything they touch, a sexy financial advisor known as Stella (Thandie Newton) playing both ends against the middle, and drugged out, supposedly deceased rock n roller Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell) who stumbles on a valuable piece of the puzzle. Add to the mix two club operators (played by Ludacris and Jeremy Piven) trying to locate their "dead" rock singer Quid before all their clubs get shut down, plus a gay punk called Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy) who's got a thing for One Two. Details of the story can't come close to doing justice to this free-for-all of a film though, so it's rather pointless to even try. It must be seen to be appreciated -- this movie is a real rock n rolla.

Things to love about this movie: As usual from Ritchie, an awesome soundtrack that makes scene after scene pop; Mark Strong's buttoned down, elegant performance as Lenny's lieutenant Archie; Ritchie's hilarious treatment of the awkward situation between One Two and Handsome Bob; Gerard Butler's dancing scene (well, actually two dancing scenes)
Things to hate about this movie: We had to wait so long for it to come along
Pleasant surprises: Thandie Newton (normally not one of my favorite actresses) is perfectly cast as the conniving Stella and gives a nice twist to the femme fatale role; the suggestion of a sequel at the movie's end (is it genuine or a joke?); there's pretty much one fun surprise after another
Unpleasant surprises: I can't help feeling relieved that Guy Ritchie will no longer be involved with Madonna so he can return to being the fantastic filmmaker I've missed