The Gentleman - Probably should have been an audiobook

I, like many, have been a huge fan of Guy Ritchie's output even since 'Lock Stock...' - granted not all of his latter work has been successful, but he's sure had more hits than misses in my book.  I have to confess that after about half an hour of 'The Gentleman' I actually switched it off.  I did intend to come back to it, but never really got round to it for months.  In the end, when I finally decided to resume it, I simply started from the beginning.  And I remembered why.

It's pretty dull.  Okay, that's possibly a little harsh if you're describing the whole film, but the first half hour is a hard watch.  You have Hugh Grant as a sleazy private investigator (who's presumably doing his best Ben Kingsley impression from 'Sexy Beast') trying to blackmail an upper class gangster who was on the brink of selling his empire and retiring.

There's a rule when writing that you should 'show, not tell' and yet Guy Ritchie seems to have forgotten this and gets High Grant to effectively narrate every single scene, telling us about every character instead of showing us what they're like and letting us make our own minds up as to their motives etc.  Yes, in typical Guy Ritchie fashion, it's all stylishly shot and looks pretty, but it's still so much of a slow-burner than I was on the brink of turning it off again.

Luckily, for the film, at around the forty minute mark, Colin Farrell arrives and - effectively - saves the film.  He's pretty much a scene-stealer and a treat to watch.  Now Guy Ritchie's overuse of dialogue doesn't seem such a drag to sit through any more.  He's not in it as much as I'd like, but at least his introduction does pick up the pace a little.

If I had one main gripe is that it's not clear who the main antagonist is.  Is it the Chinese?  Is it a nasty newspaper editor?  Or is it the Russians?  Maybe it's someone else who is going to be the 'twist' at the end?

It's not a short film (nearly two hours) and I really struggled to get through the first half.  Luckily, the last act really did improve as things came together more and the ending was actually pretty tense, therefore saving me from completely hating it.  I'm not sure if it's a film I'd watch again (or maybe I'd just watch it from about the hour mark?).  If you're expecting something quick and slick like 'Lock Stock' or 'Snatch' then this isn't it.  Prepare for something a lot more plodding and if you're in the right mood you should enjoy it despite its pace.

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights