Film review: RocknRolla

RocknRolla @ IMDB

Oh, Guy Ritchie. You poor fool.

I remember when Lock, Stock first came out and he was hailed as some kind of genius saviour of the British film industry. And, in a way, he was. His debut film really reinvigorated British films and got people interested in them again.

But, at the same time, he killed his career.

Harsh? No, because he was now typecast and stuck in the 'Geezer' genre of film. Snatch, despite being a good film, didn't do anything to dispute this.

His attempts to move beyond this, Swept Away and Revolver*, failed miserably.

So, we come to Rocknrolla. Lock Stock 3? Pretty much.

We have the usual group of wideboys and gangsters duckin' and divin' and what not. The plot is pretty much dead in the water, something to do with property and a missing painting and the Russian mafia.

This is the main problem with the film: the plot requires a lot of talking. So for the first few reels nothing happens. Once the film decides that, you know what, the plot doesn't really matter then it becomes enjoyable.

And say what you like about him, but Guy Ritchie can make a good looking film. It does look great with the high point being a botched heist followed by a chase in the middle of the film. That bit is really good.

It tries, it really does. Everyone is being cheeky geezer cockney sparrows but they are all enjoyable performances. The problem is that Guy Ritchie (as the writer) seems enamoured with these rambling monologues that try to say profound things but tend to ramble on. If the film was as tight and as focused as the heist in the middle it would have been a great film. But it isn't. It's good.

The end teases a sequel. A bad thing? Possibly not.

In a word? Geezer.



* Now, I haven't seen either of these films but the reviews I have read have been scathing. In fact, Mark Kermode referred to Revolver as one of the worst films to be released in the entire 21st century, despite it being only 2008.