Ritchie has once again made a movie with far too many characters in it, and way too little of much interest for them to do (or, Lord knows, say).
RocknRolla (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:135
Fresh:80
Rotten:55
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Mixed reviews for Guy Ritchie's return to his London-based cockney wideboy gangster movie roots, but most agree, it's a step in the right direction following two major turkeys.
Theatrical Release:05-09-2008
Synopsis: Guy Ritchie returns to form with this cockney crime caper starring Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson. Lenny Cole (Wilkinson) is a bungling London crime boss who calls the shots in London's... Guy Ritchie returns to form with this cockney crime caper starring Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson. Lenny Cole (Wilkinson) is a bungling London crime boss who calls the shots in London's underworld. We learn all about Lenny from Archie (Mark Strong)--his second in command--who serves as the film's sly narrator. When a wealthy Russian property dealer by the name of Uri (Karel Roden) looks to Lenny for help on a major new deal, Lenny is eager to assist (for a very large fee, of course). Uri agrees to pay, and as a show of faith, he insists that Lenny borrow his "lucky painting." Uri then asks his accountant, Stella (Thandie Newton), to transfer the money to Lenny, but things quickly go awry when two crooks known as Mumbles (Idris Elba) and One Two (Butler) intercept the money before it reaches him. To make matters worse, the lucky painting has mysteriously been stolen, and the number one suspect is a crack-addicted pop star, Johnny Quid, who is presumed dead. Violent hijinks ensue as Lenny desperately tries to locate the painting, Uri calls in some sadistic thugs to recover his money, and Johnny Quid suddenly resurfaces. Men are battered with golf clubs, fed to crawfish, and attacked with machetes, and a surprise twist ending neatly ties up the whole bloody mess. Fans of Ritchie will likely be very pleased to see him return to his SNATCH-style of filmmaking. ROCKNROLLA has the same frenetic, humorous edge as the film that made him famous, though critics might complain that this particular style is starting to look a little dusty. Regardless, ROCKNROLLA features many fine performances, and once you get past the rather slow beginning, it kicks off into an entertaining and amusing romp. [More]
Starring: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven
Starring: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Mark Strong, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Toby Kebbell
Director: Guy Ritchie
Director: Guy Ritchie
Screenwriter: Guy Ritchie
Producer: Joel Silver, Guy Ritchie, Susan Downey, Steve Clark-Hall
Composer: Steve Isles
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for RocknRolla
A dash of levity is key, and while Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch had almost too much to spare -- to the point of being facile exercises in braggadocio -- Ritchie’s latest is a sleeker model, less impetuous and more experienced.
What do you have to do to get your career revoked in England, short of being Gary Glitter?
The violence is idiotic and brutal (the story is just idiotic), but it's also so noncommittal that it doesn't offend. Like the filmmaking itself, the violence has no passion, no oomph, no sense of real or even feigned purpose.
If it's adrenaline, over-the-top violence and cheeky gangsters you're after, RocknRolla definitely delivers. But don't be shocked if you find yourself wanting some aspirins and a cold compress once it's all over...
Alas, Guy Ritchie seems to have lost even what little touch he once had, his latest a typically convoluted saga about strangely named big- and little-time crooks that's fatally deficient in verve.
Guy Ritchie returns with a vengeance in a terrifically funny and convoluted crime tale.
Guy Ritchie's most jolting, confusing, stimulating and flat-out entertaining picture since Snatch
For all of its cool '60s garage rock and Clash song soundtrack, writer/director Guy Ritchie's latest ode to John Mackenzie "The Long Good Friday" (1979) is a discombobulated and sluggish succession of action set pieces with vaguely interesting characters.
While Ritchie stumbled with his last two flicks, RocknRolla has the kind of manic energy that made audiences fall for the rogues of his earlier films.
All posturing and artifice -- not cool or funny, though sometimes scary in its nihilism and flippancy.
Guy Ritchie bounces back to top form with RocknRolla, a cleverly constructed, sensationally stylish and often darkly hilarious seriocomic caper.
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January 17, 2009:
Ritchie's latest homoerotic guy bonding homicidal spree, might be termed a London mafia musical fueled by global capitalism's shaky economic indicators, going toe to toe with the underground urban economy's crimelords in cutthroat competition. Literally. ![]()
More...
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