The only difficulty is in figuring out how much enjoyment can be attributed to what happened onscreen and how much of the very favourable reception the film received last night at its North American premiere can be attributed to the dynamics of the opening night of the festival and the forgiving (supplicant?) tendencies of festival audiences in general.
So yeah, it was fun but what about the film?
Similar in many respects (pacing, editing, storyline, use of music) to "Lock, Stock..." and "Snatch", "Rocknrolla" is an energetic, funny, violent, somewhat cartoonish but mostly clever romp through criminal London. The twisting narrative centres on a series of heists, bribes, double-crosses, and past betrayals serve mainly an excuse for a lot of scene chewing, over-the-top performances by the large ensemble cast. There are a few glaring plot holes and a few characters, specifically those played by Ludicrus and Jeremy Piven, which don't seem to really belong in the story at all. But the film has a certain style and self-assured feel to it that propels it past these minor quibbles. The action sequences are inventive, breathtaking, and unexpectedly hilarious. There's also a great sex scene, brilliantly concise, that plays off the onscreen chemistry between Gerard Butler and Thandie Newton.
Other Notes:
- I bought this as a single ticket at the online box office on Wednesday afternoon. I was surprised that it wasn't sold out already but learned yesterday, from speaking with others, that it had been listed as sold out only a day or two previously. Two audience members who were in town from Cleveland had, in fact, paid $60 each on Craigslist for their seats. Lesson to be learned for those discouraged by sold out shows: keep checking the online box office.
- Read through some reviews at rotten tomatoes this morning and methinks the UK critics are being unduly harsh.
- Cast/Crew in Attendance: Toby Kebbell, Idris Elba ('Stringer Bell' from 'The Wire'), Ludicris, Jeremy Piven, Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Guy Ritchie. Mrs. Guy Ritchie did not make an appearance. Had she done so, it's quite possible the entire theatre would have caved in on itself in excitement, such was the buzz already.
3 comments:
Hey Kyle, sounds good. I avoided this one because it felt like Ritchie was tilling very familiar soil after apparently proving he has little range. Thoughts?
Yeah, no new ground here for Ritchie. Think most are relieved that it's a 'return to form'. Having not seen his last two films, I can't quite comment on that. The Guardian's review was quite scathing, written in cockney phonetics, which suggests that the British critics are tired of this schtick. It did seem more geared towards North American audiences, who probably have a higher tolerance for these types of broad stereotypes (the menacing south London crime boss, the russian gangster, the impotent/cold/fey politican, etc.)
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