Smooth operators
Theo James, Kaya Scodelario make cool duo in Guy Ritchie’s fun-butdisposable smallscreen version of ‘The Gentlemen’
Best known for highly stylized action-comedy movies, English filmmaker Guy Ritchie hasn’t exactly stepped out of his comfort zone for a foray into television with “The Gentlemen,” a fairly entertaining eight-part hourlong actioncomedy series debuting last week on Netflix.
It’s inspired by his similarly enjoyable 2019 film of the same name in which expensive-suit refinement meets drug-trade violence. ¶ (This would seem to be similar to the move Ritchie made as a producer with 2000’s “Lock, Stock …,” a sevenpart series coming two years after his feature directorial debut, “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”)
First, know that you need not have seen the big-screen “Gentlemen” to sip, sophisticatedly, on its small-screen cousin.
Although press materials for the series state it “is set in the world of ‘The Gentlemen’ film,” we get not so much as a quip about Mickey Pearson, the drug kingpin played by Matthew
McConaughey in the film.
In this streaming offering, it is Ray Winstone’s Bobby Glass who oversees a cannabis empire built on high-yielding weed labs existing underneath English country estates. One such estate is Halstead Manor, home to the Horniman family.
In the series’ opening minutes, as the Duke of Halstead (Edward Fox) nears death, his problemsolving son Eddie (Theo James) is called home from duty with the British Army to be with the family. Father then instructs son to watch out for his brother, Freddy (Daniel Ings).
“He won’t survive without you.”
We soon get a sense of why that may be true when the now-deceased duke’s will is read, with older brother Freddy not receiving the windfall he anticipates, the estate instead being handed to Eddie. First suggesting there may have been some understandable Eddie-Freddy confusion, Freddy goes ballistic.
And so now we have an important dynamic: Freddy being the Fredo Corleone to Eddie’s Michael — at least if Fredo were prone to going on cocaine binges and racking up huge debts to dangerous men such as Tommy Dixon (Peter Serafinowicz), a member of powerful drug family.
As Eddie tries to plot a
course of action that will free Freddy, he also gets close to Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario), the daughter of the imprisoned Bobby and the runner of his business’ day-to-day activities.
After learning of the deal his father had made with Glass, which helps to explain how the family has managed to maintain its quite comfy lifestyle, Eddie wants to end the partnership. However, he knows this cannot be done immediately, and he agrees to help Susie with various business-related matters for the time being. The measured-and-steady type, he shows a real affinity for this work, even if he’s hampered by his inexperience at the onset.
Susie, in turn, helps him with his Freddy trouble, which, predictably, goes from simmer to boil at the climax of the first episode. It isn’t easy to rattle her, but she may have a weakness in her pro-boxing brother, Jack (Henry Goodwin).
Among those who may look to exploit such a potential pain point is Stanley Johnson (Giancarlo Esposito), an American with an appreciation for the finer things who affords them with a meth-pedaling organization — a fun nod to Esposito’s great character from “Breaking Bad,” Gus Fring.
The analysis
At least a tick stronger
than its movie counterpart, “The Gentlemen,” is never stronger — or more stylized — than its first two episodes, which see Ritchie making his TV-directing debut.
These are highly cinematic installments not matched by the series’ other directors Nima Nourizadeh, Eran Creevy and David Caffrey. To be fair, your eyes tell you that none of them had the perbudget episode afforded to Ritchie.
“The Gentlemen” may feel like a film in stretches, but, as written by Ritchie and six others, it certainly dances to the rhythms of a television show, with lower-stakes middle chapters leading toward a climax that brings together several plot threads.
It possesses many pleasant elements, such as colorful side characters including sincere, stoned-out-of-his-mind pot grower Jimmy Chang (Michael Vu) and Halstead Manor gamekeeper Geoff Seacombe (Vinnie Jones), to whom there’s more than initially appears. The inclusion of Jones is a nod to Ritchie’s past, the actor making his movie debut in “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and also appearing in the director’s second film, “Snatch.”
“The Gentlemen” almost certainly would have benefited from a ratcheting up of the sexual tension between Eddie and Susie, a bit more will-they-won’tthey energy. As it stands, their mutual attraction rarely rises above the level of a polite flirtation.
All the same, the talented actors are enjoyable together.