Mickey Pearson has been in the weed business for a while and he feels it is time for him to retire, but it’s hard when people are trying to steal both his product and business.
Blaine: Years ago, Guy Ritchie had pitched the idea for a TV series called “The Gentlemen” to a studio and the studio suggested it be a film first. Guy was all for that because he loves to make movies. When it comes to writing a script, Guy Ritchie will think about how each scene will start, how they’ll continue and how they’ll end. Guy is all about having a good time in making a movie. Guy wrote the script for “The Gentlemen” with two other screenwriters, Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, but Guy didn’t make the film right away as soon as the script was complete. He put “The Gentlemen” aside and it sat around for a while. After directing the live action version of “Aladdin”, Guy Ritchie dove right back into the genre he loves the most and got started on finally making “The Gentlmen".
Everyone in “The Gentlemen” is a criminal, and Matthew McConaughey thought the audience would be on his character, Mickey Pearson’s side. Matthew has been all smiles in a lot of the roles he has played in his career, but Mickey is nothing but serious. You also sense danger in Mickey because he is a crime boss and a lot of them can be dangerous. Mickey’s been doing the pot business since he was in his 20s and managed to rise up and succeed in making his business the number one pot business in the world.
“The Gentlemen” was Guy Ritchie and Charlie Hunnam’s second project together after “King Arthur”. Charlie couldn’t have been more happier to be working with Guy again. Charlie found his way to Guy just by calling Guy up and wanting to talk to him. Charlie felt Guy and him were meant to work together. The two of them got along fine and Charlie got to be in “King Arthur”. It was easy as that. When they first met, Charlie and Guy’s conversation was about the marijuana business because Guy was doing research for “The Gentlemen”, but Charlie didn’t know that. Charlie knew some stuff about the marijuana business and he wanted to help Guy even though he didn’t know what it was for. Charlie was a huge help for “The Gentlemen” by giving Guy useful information. Guy shared the script for “The Gentlemen” and it all made sense to Charlie why Guy was interested in the marijuana business as he read through it. Charlie was happy to have been help for Guy so he could write something unique as “The Gentlemen”.
Charlie Hunnam feels like a scene stealer in “The Gentlemen” because there’s a lot of scenes that focus on him more than Matthew McConaughey. Charlie’s character, Raymond, works for Mickey and he’s Mickey’s topman.
Ever since “Crazy Rich Asians”, Henry Golding has been getting a lot of attention. Before “Crazy Rich Asians” he was the host for a lot of travel shows and acting wasn’t something he had planned out. Henry rose to super stardom fast, everyone wanted him in their movies and the more he acted the more he had a taste for it. Henry Golding has always been a Guy Ritchie fan. Henry would watch Guy’s movies with his friends all the time and what Henry loves most about Guy’s movies is the interesting characters he has created. Henry never dreamed that he would one day be in a Guy Ritchie movie playing a character Guy Ritchie created. This was the experience of a life time for Henry and he was so happy to be playing this part for various reasons. Before “The Gentlemen”, Henry had always played the love interest who was sweet. It was nice for Henry to be playing an entirely different character who is more mean, very expressive and swears. Henry’s character, Dry Eye, is interested in Mickey’s business.
Guy Ritchie is a fan of “Downton Abby” and he had Michelle Dockery in mind for Mickey’s wife, Rosalind. Michelle Dockery had been waiting so long to play a character that was like Rosalind and she was so happy that Guy offered her this part. Rosalind is not like other wives you see married to powerful men in the crime business because she has a business of her own, where the workers are all female. Rosalind is a lot of things. She’s a strong spirited woman. Rosalind is also like Mickey’s business partner. She’s hardcore. Rosalind is also Mickey’s perfect match. There’s no one else in the world like her to Mickey.
Junkies and pot heads have been in Guy Ritchie’s past films, “Lock Stock” and “RocknRolla”. They’re like pests in “The Gentlemen”. Raymond is in charge of bringing a daughter, Laura, back to her parents and she is doing drugs with boys. The junkies try to attack Raymond and his men, but they fail and one of them falls to his death after he gets pushed off the balcony. Outside the apartment building, three annoying boys witness the junkie falling to his death, they take pictures with their phones, they spread out and Raymond and his men have to go after them. There can be no evidence. The pest, Raymond goes after, finds his way to a group of his and they outnumber Raymond, but he’s not worried. Raymond tries to reason with them, but they are giving him the serious look. Raymond may be outnumbered, but he outsmarts the group. Lucky thing for Raymond he has a machine gun hidden in his coat. He didn’t want it to come to this, but that group left him with no choice. Guy thinks of everything for how his characters will succeed in a serious situation.
Mickey’s pot farm gets some intruders, the workers show up looking like they are going to teach these intruders a lesson. You think these guys are making a big mistake and they’re about to get it, but turns out it’s the opposite. The intruders are very skilled fighters and surprisingly they win the fight. Another thing about “The Gentlemen” is it has few surprises as well. These intruders have the best coach, played by Colin Farrell. Guy is good with details and when Colin Farrell’s character is first introduced he is at a restaurant ordering a sandwich, pests show up making a lot of noise and wanting to cause trouble. Coach explains fighting to them in detail, but they just go at him and he puts them down one by one. The people who work at the restaurant are just watching and enjoying the show. Normally this is something you would call the cops on, but who needs the authorities when you have Coach handling the situation.
Once Coach finds out that his boys stole from the biggest pot farmer alive, he goes to apologize because he doesn’t want to mess with Mickey and his business. Coach makes it up by helping Raymond with whatever issues Mickey is having. You could also say Coach develops a friendship with Raymond. Coach is easy to like because he is a gentleman. And the intruders become the allies.
Guy has everything choreographed in a clever way. Dry Eye goes to Mickey to talk business about buying Mickey’s company and it ends in two alternate ways. Mickey knows Dry Eye is not the type of person he wouldn’t want to sell to, no matter what the cost is. Mickey just doesn’t like Dry Eye. Mickey has a gun under the table and shoots Dry Eye’s ball sack, then shoots Dry Eye’s escort dead. It’s cool because Mickey shoots Dry Eye with his arm low and the escort with his arm high. Dry Eye had no idea that Mickey was holding a gun underneath the table the whole time. But unfortunately that didn’t happen because like I said it ends it two alternate ways.
Another actor Guy Ritchie was reunited with was Hugh Grant after working with him on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”. At the end of “The Gentlemen”, Hugh Grant’s character, Fletcher, is presenting the script for a story that’s based on what goes on in “The Gentlemen” and behind Fletcher is a poster for “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”. It’s the Easter egg of “The Gentlemen”. A Guy Ritchie film within a Guy Ritchie film. Anyway, Fletcher is a man who wants a story because he’s a reporter who can do undercover stuff. Fletcher tries to outsmart Raymond by black mailing him. Everyone tries to outsmart each other in “The Gentlemen”. Some are smarter than others.
The actors didn’t have their characters fully figured out or know what they were cable of because Guy was always changing stuff in the scenes while they were shooting. Like Michelle Dockery didn’t know her character, Rosalin, was a good shot, especially with a gun as tiny as the one she uses to defend herself against Dry Eye as his men. Matthew McConaughey would get angry that things would change as they were shooting the movie because he had been practicing how he would act in the scenes and all of a sudden Guy would be doing things in a new direction. Matthew thought he had Guy all figured out, but Guy is a man full of surprises. Matthew didn’t like the way Guy was directing “The Gentlemen”, one with him doing things differently than how it was written in the script. But then Matthew was realizing that the scenes do look way better as he looked at the footage. He realized Guy knew what he was doing in bringing “The Gentlemen” to life. Guy will mix things up in order for it to become something that has never been shown before on film.
Charlie Hunnam knew what Guy was capable of after working with him. Charlie didn’t want to figure out who his character should be on his own, he wanted Guy’s help. Knowing Guy would change things for the characters, Charlie made sure his mind was clear and prepared himself for whatever Guy would throw his way. One of the things “The Gentlemen” is being recognized for is having clever dialog. Everyone loves the dialog in the film, including me. You could say it’s at the same rate as the dialog Quentin Tarantino writes for his movies. The dialog always stayed the same while Guy was directing. It would probably be difficult to think up new clever things to say for the dialog after spending so much time thinking about it as you are writing the script. Another thing Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino have in common is loving music and figuring out how it fits in with the scene. Guy will listen to tons of music in order to figure out which scenes it goes with.
Spoiler Alert: At the beginning of “The Gentlemen” it shows Mickey at a bar and someone comes in from behind and it cuts to blood splattering on the glass with beer in it. You’re thinking “that’s how the movie starts with the lead character being killed?” But like I said Guy Ritchie is full surprises. It shows the same scene later on, but it is revealed that the blood is not Mickey’s. Raymond managed to stop the assassin fast. So it’s the assassin’s blood, not Mickey’s. Mickey has the assassin’s blood on his head. Every time a hit man comes they don’t manage to succeed. They don’t even get close to pulling the trigger. That’s because Mickey outsmarts his enemies and he has hired the right people to work for him. Mickey figures Rosalind is in danger after having a near death experience himself. Rosalind is capable of handling herself, even though she looks afraid when Dry Eye and his men pay an unexpected visit. But she is also brave to take them on. Rosalind takes out Dry Eye’s men with a clear shot to the head. Dry Eye tackles Rosalind and puts her in a position as if he is going to rape her.
Mickey rushes himself to Rosalind all the way from the bar and he won’t let anything stop him, not even another near death experience. Mickey and Raymond have a car accident on the way, but Mickey uses all his strength to pull himself out of the wrecked car and uses all his energy to to make it to Rosalind. Mickey manages to make it just in time before Dry Eye does any damage on Rosalind. Rosalind means the world to Mickey and killing her would give his life no meaning. She means more to him than his own business. Again, Rosalind is unlike other wives married to a criminal. She’s not even scared to get blood on her hands,….or should I say head. Mickey gets the assassin’s blood on his head and Mickey shoots Dry Eye right in the head and his blood gets on Rosalind’s head. Blood is on both their heads. Rosalind is Mickey’s most prized jewel. No one can replace her because she is his soul mate and someone who means that much to you can not be replaced.
It doesn’t stop there though because out of the blue comes another threat. Guy thought there should be one more unexpected surprise. Of course no threat is going to get to Mickey as long as he has the best people working for him, Raymond, Coach and the others.
My rating on “The Gentlemen” is five out of five stars.
