Good concept, poorly executed.

A Brilliant Conflict

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Lenny Cole, a London mob boss, puts the bite on all local real estate transactions. For substantial fees, he's helping Uri Omovich, a Russian developer. As a sign of good faith, Omovich loans Cole a valuable painting, promptly stolen off Cole's wall. While Cole's men, led by the dependable Archie, look for the canvas, three local petty criminals, the Wild Bunch, steal money from the Russian using inside information from his accountant, the lovely Stella. Meanwhile, a local drug-addled rocker, Johnny Quid, is reported drowned, and his connection to Cole is the key to unraveling the deceits and double crosses of life in the underworld. Guy Ritchie is a poor man's Martin Scorsese but without the charm and the style and RocknRolla proves it perfectly. First of all the film is boring, unfunny and some great actors such as Idris Elba and Gerard Butler deliver lines that are very stupid to be taken seriously, the film starts from zero and stays there. (0/10)

(Originally seen in 2016) Guy Ritchie is just retracing his footsteps here, but what makes this a terrible film and not just a bad one, is the forced Hollywood diversity, involving a homosexual storyline, this story is boring, pointless and cheap. I am sick and tired of forced topics that are not in the slightest entertaining. The performances are stupid, especially Thandie Newton as an emotionless songwriter and the dialogue is recycled or laughable and the pacing is a mess. The film was so slow I only got to the 45 or so minute mark before exiting. Overall Guy Ritchie's last impressive film came out 8 years prior to this and I think he's finished, this film is unoriginal, terribly written, and fairly unwatchable. 0/10

When you're British, you don't need to go on bragging about yourself being the "Best," everyone pretty much accepts that already. So when structuring a group of British gangsters one distinguishes them with some clear obvious notes. Sure they may dress better than Wall Street overlords, and have more class, but they also, nevertheless, don't just think big, they think bigger and smarter. They are the Brits for Christ sake. Which also means they don't talk trash like the Italian mobsters or live as filthy as the gangs of New York. But yes, they are indeed gangsters. Dangerous and merciless -- but one of a kind. They'd kill you but in their own way. In fact, they won't waste even a nick of time when they mean business or in other words, when they want to kill you, they will come and simply kill you. It's one of those rare circular con jobs where you can more or less figure out what's going on, and you can more or less understand why nobody else does, although at various times, they all think they do, and at other times, you're wrong. While they engage in these miscalculations, they act terrifically dangerous to one another -- so smoothly you'd swear they were in the second year of a repertory tour.After a botched land deal, One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba) steal the money they need to pay back fixer Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson), with the help of accountant Stella (Thandie Newton). But their plans are complicated by a Russian oligarch and his one beloved "lucky" painting... That's Guy Richie's film. As with Richie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" or "Snatch", this is another narrative underrated class, setting up One Two and Mumbles -- the nominal everyday-criminal-heroes (it's when your villains are much stronger and far better than you are) -- who navigate us through a series of subplots, including one about a never-seen stolen painting that skews too close to Pulp Fiction's running gag about the briefcase. Though the comedy works well (there's a great scene where the gay Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy) has his way with One Two with a line like "I want you"), the final reel is just too light, with a touch of sitcom about the - almost - consequence-free finale. It was pretty real and shows how a completely normal straight man would react if he finds out his best friend is gay and wants him. On the other hand he'd also probably be left in much awe if this the last night before his friend leaves for prison and for the next five years. The bottom line is, all these people chase the same money around with the success of doggie tail-biting, and it's a lot of fun, and it's not often in these con films that everybody is conning everybody, and they're all scared to death, and nobody knows which cup the pea is under. Some very hard cases from the London and Russian underworlds who are all trying to out-think on one another and to wonder which one has truly underestimated the other.But the one that stands out in between, so much so that it gives the film its title, is the strand dealing with Lenny Cole's wayward son, a crack-addicted rocker called Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell). While that's a bit of a give away, the actual best thing about the film is Cole's right hand man and Quid's uncle (and sort of his childhood hero), Archy (Mark Strong). The "title" of the film secretly belongs to him, actually. And you'll know it right before the end through Quid. Speaking of which, it's a terrific turn from Kebbell, making sly digs at the music industry and drawing parallels between his rock world and the underworld with a turn that veers from cadaverous and vulnerable to whippet-like and surprisingly tough when times get the hardest. Proclaiming his status as the next Real "RockNRolla" (just like his Uncle) right before we all take him for granted."RocknRolla" is how they say "rock and roller" in the East End. It isn't as jammed with visual pyrotechnics or cool fight sequences but that's OK, because with anything more happening, the movie could induce motion sickness. It never slows down enough to be really good, and never speeds up enough to be the Bourne Mortgage Crisis, but there's one thing for sure: British actors enjoy playing gangsters as much as American actors love playing cowboys.The biggest misconception about Guy Ritchie is that he cares what the critics think about him - he doesn't. With his wife and his brother-in-law's stupid book in the papers on every other page these days – a steal for its terrific cast alone - he has to be pretty steady on his priorities. From the Banksy-style opening credits, it's clear that Ritchie wants this film to get to you. This is a film that grabs your attention, holds it and, for the bulk of its running time, actually warrants it. With RocknRolla, Ritchie isn't reverting, he's progressing.Don't expect any new tricks. Every character will still be introduced with a trademark flourish, lest our attention wander for a second. There will be an aggressive voice-over hinting at grand schemes gone haywire: this time it's a five-minute disquisition on hedge funds and London's property boom, which is so tragically 2007 (and tedious) you half expect a cameo from Tony Blair. But why should you? Just draw your attention to the flip side of the discussion: (Written in boring bold black and white all along) It's a story of Sex, Thugs and Rock 'n Rolla!

It's not that I don't appreciate some of the work of Guy Ritchie. He had a nice start with Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. And both Sherlock Holmes movies present an interesting twist on a famous character. Although I suspect the latter is more due to Robert Downey Jr.'s immense talent. Problem is, when he did Lock Stock..., it seemed like a harmless comedy. A bit of fun and capers at the expense of what Guy assumes is the "gangster lifestyle". After watching RockNRolla, you begin to suspect that this guy secretly wishes to have an army of Vinnie Joneses and Mark Strongs roughing up anyone who dares stand in his path of domination.All the ingredients are in place. You have the old time cockney crime boss, played by Tom Wilkinson, and his trusted right hand man and enforcer, played by Mark Strong. You have Gerard Butler, Idris Elba and Tom Hardy as the small time crooks who call themselves The Wild Bunch. You have a Russian businessman/gangster wanting to invest in London property, and has no qualms in showing guys like Wilkinson that times have changed, and that they are no match for those yielding his type of power and money. Add a junkie rock and roll star (Toby Kebbell), playing another anachronistic Guy Ritchie fantasy. The Russians' accountant (Thandie Newton) who backstabs him thanks to her connections to The Wild Bunch, some enforcers, two American music promoters, and all you have to do is shake, stir them all together somehow, and you have another cocktail of "hilarious consequences", and someone's idea of glamorous/ruthless crime life ready to serve.Sure, there is a plot involving a stolen painting. And a final twist where it turns out Tom Wilkinson is a police informer, resulting in death by crayfish at the hands of Mark Strong. But it all seems to take a backseat to a lot of jump cuts, exposition, violence, and attempts at humorous, witty quips. The people we care about don't get that honor because we like the cartoonish characters. Just cause we like the actors. Mark Strong is a menacing, strong presence, like he was in the first Sherlock Holmes. And Idris Elba is genuine class. Other than that, there are too many clichés, like Wilkinson. And Gerard Butler is a Poseur of the highest order (of course he has a sex scene with Newton that you can spot a mile away). Not to mention Toby Kebbell, as an insufferable, self-obsessed, profound statement spouting brat, who needed his tongue ripped out with red hot pliers.In the end, you might think there is a hidden sub-plot/morality tale about criminal money being used to hike up the price of properties in London, and pricing other residents out. Or you would, if that was given more than 30 seconds at the start of the film. What you end up getting is a glimpse into someone else's adolescent fascination. Which, frankly, could do with a little dose of subtlety, taste, and proper characterization.