Movie Review: Rock’N’Rolla
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Guy Ritchie is back. No, we don’t mean back on the single scene…but back in action at what he does best…directing at the top of his form.
With Rock’N‘Rolla, he is back with a vengeance. A tour de force feature film in every way. A creamy cockney concoction of humor, rock, and violence…all centered around a group of relatively small time thugs. There are no great surprises here, which is really the most disappointing thing we could say about Rock’N’Rolla.
There are some strong performances, including Tom Wilkinson, who is consistently on target. Jeremy Piven also has some key scenes, but we just couldn’t get over one small fact; to us, he is still Ari Gold from Entourage. He just seemed totally misplaced. We almost expected him to shout out to Tom Wilkinson and say, “Let’s hug it out, bitch” at any moment. Rounding out the large ensemble cast is Gerard Butler and Thandie Newton. Ms. Newton puts in a smoldering performance compared to her grating Condoleezza Rice impersonation from W.
There are classic Guy Ritchie touches here; a stunning musical score, blazing cinematography, kinetic camera movement…but that really amounts to the problem. It is a very well crafted film, but we’ve seen it all before (i.e. Lock Stock and Snatch). This is what Guy does best, but we almost wish he would take bigger leap of faith outside his comfort zone.
If this was Mr. Ritchie’s first film, we would be justly impressed, but his own filmography weighs him down on this one and ultimately betrays him. Rock’N‘Rolla was produced for under twenty million dollars. It’s pretty neat-o considering the size of the cast and solid production value. Even though the film greatly underperformed at the box office this past opening weekend, we have a feeling it will make it back in the end.
There are some great moments, but it’s hard to encourage setting your sights to full blast on this one. Also, be forewarned…the accents are thick and as hard to understand as Joe The Plumber. The opening credit sequence, which we featured here at the Egotist a couple of weeks ago, is by far the highlight of it all. Regardless of this mediocre effort, we’re looking forward to his take on Sherlock Homes starring Robert Downey Jr. next year. Rock on, tread lightly and hold on to your quid.
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