Film review: The Gentlemen

This was a second viewing for me, the first time round was a spontaneous cinema visit at Uni, at a time when “1917" was also circulating. A lot of perspective I got on this film actually came from how I compared these two.

I admired “1917" greatly, making a war film but limiting yourself to the absolute barebones and branding it as restricting (with the one shot format) made for an extremely raw, emotional masterpiece. As far as entertainment value goes, “The Gentleman” zoomed to the other end, with dramatic storytelling, constant metaphor dialogue and flashy quips. I think my enjoyment for both films stemmed from how you needed to the watch other kind of film to balance out what was way, way out on it’s spectrum.

On second viewing I was able to be somewhat more critical, while I realise watching the film is about the first time experience, I did become aware this time around that the final third of the film was what gave me the ‘leave the cinema with a grin’ feeling. This part of the film was definitely the best.

In the special mentions section of my review I have to give special credit to Mathew McConaughey and Hugh Grant. The latter was given a very odd casting but absolutely smashed it out of the park, inspiring the comedic overtones this movie needed. Mathew McConaughey and Michelle Dockery were part of one of the most enticing and unique dynamics I’ve seen in the timeframe of one film, and as a story that was never given centre stage, it was rooted and remembered as a key success in The Gentlemen.

Rating 8.5/10