The Gentlemen review: Guy Ritchie’s almost perfect return is utterly ludicrous – in a good way

TELL you what, it’s nice to see Guy Ritchie back on familiar ground.

Although at times it feels completely out of step with the modern world, The Gentlemen is an hilarious, foul-mouthed bonanza.

I hated King Arthur with a passion and was largely unimpressed with last year’s Aladdin, so seeing Ritchie gather a tantalising ensemble that includes Hugh Grant, Matthew McConaughey and Colin Farrell offered an olive branch I found hard to resist. It is a crime-gone-wrong caper where everyone is an effing C, everyone’s accents change four times in one sentence and there is more claret spilt than in a wine bar on a bouncy castle.

Mickey Pearson (McConaughey) is an American drug lord who has built an empire growing marijuana and now fancies selling up.

When word hits the street, double-crossing, blackmail, betrayal and gunfire is never far behind.

What actually happens is largely irrelevant, as we move from underground dope greenhouses to stately homes via the obligatory boxing gym and end up “dahn the boozer”.

The Gentlemen is a series of stylised set-pieces glued together with a flimsy storyline. Much like that film about the plumber popping in to fix the housewife’s tumble-drier, that I once saw, we aren’t here for the plot. It is, at times, utterly ludicrous (in a good way). I swear to God, the following line actually made it on screen: “In France it’s illegal to call a pig Napoleon — but just try and stop me.”

But to balance that dreadfulness is the utterly poetic “You couldn’t lift a wheel of cheese, you c***” — so horses for courses, I guess.

Despite that, this film will preach largely to the converted, and those thirsty for a Lock, Stock and Snatch follow-up will be very happy indeed.

The Gentlemen (18) 113mins

★★★★☆