The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Featured Image via imdb.com, courtesy of Christopher Raphael.

As a kid, you probably had a favourite parent to tell you bedtime stories, even if they are telling the same old ones, again and again. That is because the way the story is told can make it or break it. Can The Gentlemen keep the attention of the audience on its twisty road of a story, or will they be counting sheep?

The Gentlemen follows American expat in London, Mickey Pearson (Mathew McConaughey), and his massive marijuana empire. Wanting out, Mickey now is aiming to sell his business to American billionaire Mathew (Jeremy Strong), so that he can live with the love of his life in the lap of luxury. As that news spreads, Mickey and his empire are circled by several hunting parties, all wanting a piece of the action.

The many twists and turns make it hard to summarise, which is not atypical for director Guy Richie. The story is being told by private investigator Fletcher (Hugh Grant), to Mickey’s right-hand man, Ray (Charlie Hunnam) in an attempt to extort Mickey. If Fletcher does not receive the money he asks, he will give all the information he knows about Mickey’s operation and illegal activities to the tabloids to publish.

This structure of having a storyteller makes the plot more comprehensible, yet one is still likely to feel lost for at least the first thirty minutes of the film. The Gentlemen is also not the easiest film to keep up with since – despite having some action – it relies heavily on the witty dialogue to move its story along, deliver the comedic aspect, and expose its characters’ traits.

The script is very humorous, with endless hilariously smart lines, mostly said by Fletcher about meanderings that have little to do with the story, but still manage to fit perfectly into it.

The plot does digress into aspects that do not seem to fit, like how Mickey helps bring back home the drug addict daughter of one of his business partners, among others. These digressions have the film rambling and taking away from important elements that therefore become underplayed, such as Mickey’s relationship with his wife.

For the acting, Mathew McConaughey’s performance was strong but subtle and underplayed, which was what his character called for but didn’t use the full extent of his talent. The real star of the film was Hugh Grant. Grant was magnificent as he completely disappeared into the character to a point where he was so unrecognisable that you couldn’t believe it is the same man we all fell for in Bridget Jones or Love Actually. He was able to make Fletcher hilarious, plausible, and multidimensional all at once. A close second is Colin Farrell with a smaller role as a coach who teaches troubled kids street fighting; Farrell has the character exploding on to the screen in the minimal but memorable role. On the other hand, Jeremy Strong’s performance was a one tune banjo, and Charlie Hunnam’s was only adequate.

If you follow as The Gentlemen pieces the puzzle together, you will definitely be entertained in the process, even if it is all too twisty to remember once it is over.