3 things you need to know before you buy a ticket to The Gentlemen
Are you planning to see The Gentlemen this weekend? Here are the three things that you need to know before you buy that ticket.
Jan. 24 saw two major movies hit theaters. The horror movie, The Turning, and what appeared to be an action movie, The Gentlemen. On top of this, there was another action movie released on Jan. 17, Bad Boys for Life. When you have this many options you want to make sure you’re buying the right ticket and we want to help with that.
The first thing that appeals to you about The Gentlemen is likely the cast. It’s a loaded cast list featuring Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Jeremy Strong (Succession), Colin Farrell (True Detective), and Hugh Grant (Love, Actually). Everyone gets their chance to shine in this one but with such a star-studded cast, how does it all work out?
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There are three things in particular that are vital for you to know before you walk into the theater. Expectations matter and we want to help you with that.
1. It’s more of a mystery than an action movie
While watching The Gentlemen, it was difficult not to get Knives Out vibes. For most of the movie, Hugh Grant’s character, Fletcher, is telling Charlie Hunnam’s character, Ray, what he believes has occurred in the recent past for his boss’ business. We see something happen at the very beginning of the movie and we want to know how we got to that point. Fletcher is letting Ray know that he is aware of what went down and trying to blackmail him.
As Fletcher re-tells the story, it’s clear that Ray is annoyed by his presence but he is also genuinely curious about what he knows. What we see at the beginning was bad and Ray may want answers for how it went down as well. Because of this storytelling style, most of the movie is shown in flashbacks. Since Fletcher is filling in the blanks in some scenes, he gets some of them wrong so we see a scene play out and then Ray intercedes and tells him that’s not what happened and we go back to that scene from the top.
While this makes the movie fun and keeps you guessing, it also has a secondary effect and one that writer/director Guy Ritchie (Snatch) seems to be very aware of.
2. It’s a bit of a slow burn.
If you’re familiar with Ritchie’s work, particularly Snatch, you know his storytelling style and you know he’s going to have some fun characters. Fletcher is actually a writer so he’s telling Ray what happened in a very cinematic way. In asking for his extortion money he also offers Ray a script detailing the story he’s telling. Fletcher is a fun and loose character while Ray is both serious and deadly. The dynamic makes for many laughs but when you’re expecting an action movie it’s not going to be enough.
So, when Fletcher is telling what happened and we’re being introduced to the characters we get little pops of action. Every 10-15 minutes for the first hour and a half we get a quick action scene. One of these scenes is the one where Ray has to stop him and correct him on what happened and Fletcher acknowledges that he knows it didn’t go down that way but every movie needs a bit of action. This all pays off however as the action does pick up for the final 45 minutes or so and makes up for the wait that we had building up to it.
3. You will want a sequel.
This was also written directly into the script. After we’re introduced to a myriad of characters there are definitely a few you will fall in love with. For me personally, I loved the introduction of a crew that referred to themselves as “The Toddlers.” Honestly, I could watch an entire movie that just followed them. If there is a sequel to The Gentlemen, I would expect this group to have a more prominent role and I would buy that ticket without hesitation.
The way the story plays out during the major storytelling portion, before the action, sets up everything that happens at the end amazingly. By the time The Gentlemen‘s credit’s run you will feel like it was just getting started.
We will see if a sequel really does happen and I’m sure what happens at the box office will determine if it does so get that ticket!
The Gentlemen is now available in theaters.