There are a few things I would like to do before I die. Buy a Banksy. Have a published photo, story, or review. Have sex with Naomi Watts. And last night I realized one more. Play a character in at least one Guy Ritchie film.
Guy Ritchie movies are hard as hell to summarize, so I’m going to steal the one from IMDB.
In London, a real-estate scam puts millions of pounds up for grabs, attracting some of the city’s scrappiest tough guys and its more established underworld types, all of whom are looking to get rich quick. While the city’s seasoned criminals vie for the cash, an unexpected player — a drugged out rock ‘n’ roller presumed to be dead but very much alive — has a multi-million dollar prize fall into his hands.
Some of you may know Guy Ritchie from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. More of you will know him from the more popular, Snatch. And if you don’t know either of these movies, then you suck. Go rent them, download them, steal them from Best Buy, Netflix them, do something. See them. They’re great. Why are they great? Because Guy Ritchie does something a lot of other less cool filmmakers don’t do. He not only directs great movies. He writes all of the great movies he directs. Literally, all of them.
RocknRolla has a huge cast. Which can sometimes be a bad thing, but not in this case. Everyone’s performance is great. Gerard Butler as One Two is hilarious. Seeing him in this is a breath of fresh air when comparing him to King Leonidas in 300. Thandie Newton as Stella is nice. My buddy James might disagree with me, but shes very visually pleasing to the eyes. Mark Strong as Archie reminded me of Jason Stathem in Snatch. His character is a lot stronger and more capable than he’s allowed to be. Luckily, by the end of the movie, he’s freed from his masters leash and is able to live up to his potential. And lastly, Toby Kebbell as Johnny Quid is fantastic. While we see him as a crack fiend rather than a rock star, his character is still someone who is fun and interesting to watch.
With all the actors / characters mentioned above, I still left out Matt King, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, David Leon, Jimi Mistry, Jeremy Piven, Ludacris, Karel Roden, and even Tom Wilkinson. And trust me, there were a lot more people who were great in RocknRolla.
Luckily, Guy Ritchie has been cool enough to write a sequel to RocknRolla already. That’s right! It was actually written as a result of not being able to put everything he wanted to in the first installment. So, along with Sherlock Holmes, be sure to add RocknRolla 2 (that wont be the title) to your list of Guy Richie movies to look forward to.
8.5 out of 10.
Tags: Chase, Chris Bridges, Crime, Fight, Gangs, Gangster, Gerard Butler, Guns, Guy Ritchie, Handsome Bob, Idris Elba, Jeremy Piven, Jimi Mistry, Karel Roden, London, Ludacris, Mark Strong, Matt King, Money, Movie, Movie Review, Review, Robbery, Rock and roll, Rocknrolla, Steal, Thandie Newton, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hardy
