The Gentlemen is an action comedy film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, from a story by Ivan Atkinson, Marn Davies, and Ritchie. It follows an American marijuana kingpin in England who is looking to sell his business, setting off a chain of blackmail and schemes to undermine him. Having little knowledge about The Gentlemen, I was pleasantly surprised.
When Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), an infamous cannabis baron, who is a grower and dealer of marijuana decides he has had enough of the illegal drug profession, the word goes out that he wants to sell his lucrative business. Several interested buyers compete for the sale. A private investigator Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is hired by Big Dave (Eddie Marsan) to investigate Pearson’s links to Lord Pressfield (Samuel West), a minor Royal with a heroin-addicted daughter. Fletcher offers to sell his findings (typed up as a screenplay entitled Bush) to Pearson’s right-hand man Raymond (Charlie Hunnam) for £20 million. Born in poverty in the US, Pearson won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he began selling marijuana to privileged fellow students before dropping out and building up his criminal enterprise by violence. Big Dave has decided to sell his business to American billionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong) for $400 million so he can retire peacefully with his wife Rosalind (Michelle Dockery). Pearson is later approached by Dry Eye (Henry Golding), an underboss for Chinese gangster Lord George (Tom Wu) who offers to buy out Pearson’s business, but he refuses. When one of Mickey’s labs is raided by some unprofessional young adults, it is discovered that the crew belongs to Coach (Colin Farrell) who is very apologetic. Good luck with trying to figure this one out, there’s much more to come.
As you can see, there are several players in The Gentlemen. As Flecher spins his script to Raymond, you can see how complicated each player’s maneuvers make this an intriguing film. I thought The Gentlemen was cleverly written and reminded me of several movies that were based on a similar premise, e.g. Knives Out, Parasite, and Uncut Gems. This movie is fast-moving and will require your full attention in order to keep up. You will have to see The Gentlemen in its entirety as you won’t be able to solve this one on your own. I was thoroughly entertained and highly recommend The Gentlemen as a refreshing and different tale of “who’s in charge”. As of February 9, 2020, The Gentlemen has grossed $26.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $33.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $60.4 million. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 73% based on 211 reviews, with an average rating of 6.35/10. Check It Out!
Addicted is a real eye opener into the world of sex addiction. Zoe Reynard, played by Sharon Leal, appears happily married with a gorgeous husband and 2 lovely children. She owns her own company that solicits other companies to display her client’s art work everywhere they are associated. Zoe’s mother, Nina is played by Maria Howell. As moms go, Nina is extremely passive and lives with them, playing the role of nanny, because Jason and Zoe have high powered jobs. Zoe’s husband, Jason Reynard is played by Boris Kodjoe who is an architect who works some late nights but still finds time for the kids. I found Addicted to be a little slow, up to a point. Zoe’s excessive sex-capades became too redundant and boring. Her visits to Dr. Marcella Spencer, played by Tasha Smith, seemed hopeless and only served minimal purpose in Zoe’s life. For a while, Addicted was interesting but after it was established that Zoe has a sex problem, we needed to move on. Some of her manipulations were obvious and made a likable character unlikable. The end was believable and surprising hopeful. All the men in this movie are eye candy and the acting was excellent. Garrett Hines who played Benny, was Zoe’s first lover and Tyson Beckford who played Corey was her second lover, after Jason. Both Benny and Corey seemed just as addicted to her as she was to them. I didn’t like the mother, Nina. I felt she had no real connection to her daughter and was too passive. All in all, the ending helped make the movie acceptable, despite the obvious redundancy. I would wait for the DVD.
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