The Gentlemen Blu Ray Review (Universal)
The Gentlemen is a 2019 crime film written, directed, & produced by Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, & RocknRolla). It was produced by Bill Block (Halloween franchise, Vanilla Sky, District 9, Fury, & Jay and Silent Bob Reboot) & Robert Simonds (21 Bridges, Mile 22, Problem Child franchise, Bulletproof, & Half Baked). Kate Beckinsale was originally cast for the film but she had to drop out after two weeks of shooting. The budget was $22 million & it grossed $115 million worldwide at the box office!!!!
Big Dave (played by: Eddie Marsan from 21 Grams, Ray Donovan, Vice, & Deadpool 2), editor of the Daily Print tabloid is snubbed by cannabis baron Mickey Pearson (played by: Matthew McConaughey from Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Dazed and Confused, True Detective, & Frailty) at a party & he hires private investigator Fletcher (played by: Hugh Grant from Nine Months, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mickey Blue Eyes, & The Lair of the White Worm) to investigate Pearson’s links to Lord Pressfield (played by: Samuel West from Darkest Hour, Van Helsing, & Mr Selfridge). A Royal Duke with a heroin-addicted daughter. Fletcher offers to sell his findings (written as a screenplay entitled Bush) to Pearson’s right-hand man Raymond (played by: Charlie Hunnam from Sons of Anarchy, Crimson Peak, Pacific Rim, & Papillon) for £20,000,000. Mickey plans to sell his business to American billionaire Matthew Berger (played by: Jeremy Strong from The Big Short, The Judge, Zero Dark Thirty, & Black Mass) for $400,000,000 so he can retire peacefully with his wife Rosalind (played by: Michelle Dockery from Good Behavior, Godless, Downton Abbey, & Non-Stop).
Pearson is later approached by Dry Eye (played by: Henry Golding from Last Christmas, Crazy Rich Asians, & A Simple Favor), an underboss for Chinese gangster Lord George (played by: Tom Wu from Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Kick-Ass 2, Skyfall, & Revolver). Dry Eye offers to buy out Pearson’s business but he refuses because the offer was way too low. Pearson’s lab is then raided by amateur MMA fighters & aspiring YouTubers “The Toddlers”. The fighters’ trainer Coach (played by: Colin Farrell from Daredevil, In Bruges, True Detective, & Dumbo) orders them to delete the video & he is worried when he discovers that the cannabis belongs to Pearson. Raymond retrieves Laura (played by: Eliot Sumner from Stardust) from a council estate where she is living with several other addicts but something goes wrong. Aslan (played by: Danny Griffin from Fate: The Winx Saga) ends up dead & his family is connected to powerful people. Coach offers his service to Mickey while trying to make things right for his boys actions to Raymond. Dry Eye goes for revenge after being rejected. Big Dave with Fletcher & the Russians are on Mickey’s trail also. Can he survive all this chaos & still get out of the game with his money????
The Gentlemen is currently the best film that I’ve seen in 2020, I know it’s a bold statement but it’s true. I seen a decent amount in theaters before all this Covid-19 stuff started happening so it has beat out all kinds of movies so far. Guy Ritchie is known for this type of feature & he’s done some great work when it comes to this sub-genre so I am very happy that he returned to doing crime films after all these years. He tried to step out & do some different genres but none of them really worked besides the Sherlock Holmes films to be honest. When it comes to this world, he is one of the best. The dialogue was damn near perfect for The Gentlemen & there’s not a bad performance here because of it. It has a little bit of everything, it’s a great mix of violence & comedy. It has lots of hilarious moments that have you laughing out loud & grinning after it’s done. It does quickly change from humor to something dark which I really enjoyed. Matthew McConaughey proves once again that he deserved to win that Oscar years ago, this is one of his best roles in his entire career. Hugh Grant delivers his greatest performance ever in The Gentlemen. He’s so good in this that he’s damn near unrecognizable.
When I originally seen the trailer for this, I didn’t know that was him at first. I wish he would do more material like this because his acting range is better than what most people give him credit for. Charlie Hunnam can be very hit or miss when it comes to acting but he was downright scary as Raymond. Personally, it’s my favorite character that he’s ever portrayed & he held his own with the amazing cast in this. Henry Golding has honestly done some really horrible movies in his short career & I haven’t been impressed with anything that I’ve seen from him until now. He proved me wrong here, he was dangerous & he pulled the villain role with ease. I hope that he does more cinema like this rather than doing lame romantic comedies because he is wasting his talent with that crap. My favorite character from The Gentlemen had to be Coach. That role was so good that I want to see him get his own spin off feature someday. Colin Farrell became something else in this. Coach could easily hang with any gangster in The Gentlemen plus he had some of the best lines from this. He had me laughing non stop & I loved the look of the character. He just stood out from everyone here. The rest of the supporting cast was top notch & they elevated the entire production. Like I said before, there’s not a single bad performance & that’s very rare when it comes to movies. The Gentlemen has some nice twists to keep you on your toes. It’s so much fun & beyond entertaining, there’s not a dull moment in it. The replay value is strong, I actually enjoyed & appreciated it more after this revisit, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Universal! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks top notch & it has various locations that really pop out on the screen with it’s excellent cinematography. It has a few audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, & English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on the release. The score & soundtrack sound amazing on these tracks. That’s the true highlight when it comes to the technical aspects here. All of the sharp dialogue is crystal clear & the chaos is elevated. It also has English SDH & Spanish subtitles.
Let’s discuss the special features from Universal! “Best Gentlemanly Quips” is a little over 3 minutes. It highlights some of the best dialogue & lines from The Gentlemen. Ir has some of the character’s funniest moments here. “Glossary of Cannabis” is almost a minute. It has every scene or moment from the film where they use different slang for marijuana with various names.”Behind the Scenes of The Gentlemen” is almost 2 minutes. It has quick comments from Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam, Jeremy Strong, Michelle Dockery, Henry Golding, & Colin Farrell. They chat about working on a Guy Ritchie movie. They talk about his style, writing, & show off some of the fashion from the feature. “Photo Gallery” features a variety of stills from the set & production. It also has a slipcover, a digital code, & a DVD copy of the release. It was released in other formats like 4K, DVD, & Digital. This is a must own & needs to be everyone’s collection. One of the best crime films in a long time. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
