It was an inspired bit of casting for writer-director Guy Ritchie to make former heartthrob Hugh Grant the weasely linchpin of his British caper flick “The Gentlemen” (2020). Ritchie brings a unique style to this type of film and Grant proves to be a worthy air traffic controller as scenes cut from one character’s perspective to another and back and forth across time. Matthew McConaughey is trying to sell his (illegal) business and he thinks he has a buyer, but cutthroat hijinks ensue. There’s bullets, blood and belly-laughs – sometimes all at once. Ritchie makes it look easier than it is.
Archives for posts with tag: Colin Farrell
In 2003, Marvel wasn’t a Universe and movie special effects weren’t scarily surreal. Those are two reasons “Daredevil” misses the mark, but they’re more like excuses. Nobody had to make the writing so ham-fisted and nobody had to make Ben Affleck a ridiculously computer-aided cross between Batman and Spiderman. Jennifer Garner’s Elektra is reduced to sugarless eye candy and Colin Farrell’s Bullseye comes off as some kind of crazy Irish Andre Agassi. And the courtroom scenes (Affleck’s a lawyer by day) are as preposterous as the special effects. Hopefully, he didn’t represent himself when he divorced Garner in real life.
I don’t think anybody is going to mention the 2012 remake of “Total Recall” in the same breath with “Citizen Kane,” but that doesn’t make it any worse than the 1990 original. Both are satisfactory action films that used the latest high-tech filmmaking to augment a sci-fi political espionage plot that takes place just a little bit in the future. The remake also evokes “Blade Runner” with all the darkness, grime and rain (the weather always sucks in the future – damn greenhouse gases). Colin Farrell’s sad-eyed emoting abounds. Kate Beckinsale makes for an excellent villain. Most. Evil. Looking. Hair. Ever.
100wordreviews 