ROCKNROLLA
RYAN: “RocknRolla” is the first Guy Ritchie film in a while that we’ve actually liked.
CAROLINE: You could almost call it a comeback for him since most of the stuff he’s done since hooking up with Madonna has been critically panned.
RYAN: Especially “Swept Away,” the one that she starred in.
CAROLINE: This one stars Gerard Butler among others, and even though they all have such strong British accents that I found myself yearning for sub-titles at times, I still enjoyed the movie.
RYAN: Given that Guy Ritchie both wrote and directed it, it’s very true to his style – British tough guys, faux gangsters, etc. It also stars Thandie Newton, Tom Wilkinson and Mark Strong who we loved in “Body of Lies.” It’s very violent, and the music is like ’70s porn style.
CAROLINE: It’s definitely a movie in the vein of his previous films, “Snatch” and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” He loves to make a gangster movie where all the characters are slick and fast-talking. Sometimes I think Guy fancies himself a bit of a real-life gangster; and who knows, maybe he is.
RYAN: Interestingly, I think this film discredits some of the things that Madonna’s brother, Christopher Ciccone, was claiming in his unauthorized biography of her. He called Guy Ritchie a homophobe, but this movie has a gay character and several gay scenes done in a very gangster way that isn’t at all offensive. I don’t see how a truly homophobic man could write scenes like this.
CAROLINE: This just in – maybe Madonna’s brother is lying. The gay scenes you’re referring to are really funny, and the movie in general has several laugh-out-loud moments. I enjoyed Tom Wilkinson too; his role was a bit of a departure for him. And I thought Thandie Newton looked hot, even though she resembles an Ethiopian famine victim.
RYAN: I couldn’t stand her hair! I couldn’t tell if it was a wig or her real hair, but if it’s the latter, God help her.
CAROLINE: It was just a simple bob.
RYAN: Yes, but it was too thick or something. Something was just off about it and it looked awful on her.
CAROLINE: Well, I thought she looked gorge. Another thing worth mentioning is the editing. Some of it’s very cool and different, and I especially enjoyed the way they edited a certain sex scene.
RYAN: I wholeheartedly agree. I think the editing really punched up the quality of this movie. Guy Ritchie isn’t necessarily a great director in terms of shots and scope, but the editing and the music and the general style make this movie very watchable.
CAROLINE: It’s very gritty and fast-paced. I don’t think Guy is necessarily concerned with making a gorgeous film; he just wants it to be a fun, crazy, gangster story.
RYAN: He’s also clearly a fan of the male midsection. In almost all of his movies, he features men with great physiques. Sadly for me, Gerard Butler does not appear shirtless in this one. Bottom line?
CAROLINE: It’s a fun movie. I think we know what to expect from Guy Ritchie by now, and if you’ve liked any of his previous films, you’re sure to like this one. There’s lots of drugs, profanity and violence, but the violence is almost comical. It won’t offend too much.
RYAN: The dialogue is great and I’d like to say it’s a smart movie… but I found it confusing. I rarely get confused during movies, but this one was confusing almost the whole way through. I couldn’t really tell who was on whose side, who was working for whom or what they were really after. There’s also one thing I wanted to see throughout the whole film, but it’s never revealed and that frustrated me.
CAROLINE: Really? I kinda liked that they never showed it. It’s like a “Pulp Fiction” moment; you never get to see the glowing thing in the suitcase.
RYAN: I wasn’t feeling it. But I thoroughly enjoyed the movie otherwise.