A Rocky Ride

Movie: RockNRolla

Director: Guy Ritchie

Starring: Gerard Butler, Toby Kebbel, Thandie Newton

Rating: 7/10

Guy Ritchie has directed great films like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. But he has also directed some rubbish features (Swept Away springs instantly to mind), and so when I went to see his newest film, RockNRolla, you can understand my trepidation.

Of course, the benefit of this is that Ritchie is back in his well-worn-London-gangster-film-slippers, which promises at least a halfway decent film. And it was. Halfway decent.

By which I mean the film didn’t really pick up until just after the halfway mark. For the first part of the film, the ridiculously complicated plot lines and the relevant characters are established. During this phase the directing and the story feels lacklustre as it meandered on its journey towards the dramatic conclusion. That isn’t to say it wasn’t well-acted, because it was. Thandie Newton as the sexy dangerous accountant is, well, sexy; Gerard Butler’s criminal One Two is endearing and amusing; Toby Kebbel playing the dead drugged up rock star Johnny Quid to perfection, and the rest of the cast is equally great.

The storyline is convoluted and unnecessary in the beginning, with clunky silences and awkward direction, but then Ritchie comes into his own towards the end with his trademark cuts and quick progression and it feels more assured, more grown up. And it works better for it.

The dialogue is also more grown up, but that’s not to say there aren’t the typical Ritchie flourishes and one-liners, but it feels more responsible and it helps to keep the slow story flowing at the beginning.

By the end of the film you’ll want to see more, and Ritchie is going to give you that opportunity with another two films with the same characters. So as the end credits say, “The Wild Bunch will return in the Real RockNRolla”.

Here’s hoping Ritchie's recently returned skills stick around for the next one.