It says something that most of the press coverage for Guy Ritchie's new film 'Rocknrolla' surrounds the fact that Madonna was late for the London premiere. While the name Madonna is somewhat synonymous with 'show stealer', some might argue that the vast coverage of this minor marital incident masks the fact that Ritchie's film doesn't merit any serious film chit chat.
Don't listen to the cynics, 'Rocknrolla' is actually a decent comeback for Mr Madonna, who has been lingering in the limbo of film failure after no goers like 'Swept Away' and 'Revolver'. The film, set in London's seedy underworld, is strikingly similar to previous successes, 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and 'Snatch', and features the same sort of thuggish geezer characters but this time with a homo-erotic subtext. While Ritchie's film masquerades as homophobic to the max, there are certain scenes, (the gangsters discover the Russian gangsters in full dominatrix get-up about to perform a certain act on one of their men), where one might not be too sure if the geezer gangsters want to pop a cap in the Russian's asses or strip down and join in.
I think Ritchie was well aware that this film would make or finally break him, and to be honest I don't think it'll do either. He played it safe and did what he's good at, hence the copycat characters (the pool of what he's good at is not a deep one). The only new character is Thandie Newton's Stella, 'the accountant'. If the director intended her to be a strong female character he is worse than I ever imagined for all the slow motion shots of her legs, face and ass surely compromise and completely eradicate any idea of her as the brains behind the operation.
In short, the soundtrack's great, the stylized cinematography is unoriginal but great, and while Ritchie's film has an overly complicated plot and pretty standard Ritchie characters, it is definitely not his third turkey in a row. Starring Thandie Newton, Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson, the film is definitely worth a watch but don't hold your breath.
Don't listen to the cynics, 'Rocknrolla' is actually a decent comeback for Mr Madonna, who has been lingering in the limbo of film failure after no goers like 'Swept Away' and 'Revolver'. The film, set in London's seedy underworld, is strikingly similar to previous successes, 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and 'Snatch', and features the same sort of thuggish geezer characters but this time with a homo-erotic subtext. While Ritchie's film masquerades as homophobic to the max, there are certain scenes, (the gangsters discover the Russian gangsters in full dominatrix get-up about to perform a certain act on one of their men), where one might not be too sure if the geezer gangsters want to pop a cap in the Russian's asses or strip down and join in.
I think Ritchie was well aware that this film would make or finally break him, and to be honest I don't think it'll do either. He played it safe and did what he's good at, hence the copycat characters (the pool of what he's good at is not a deep one). The only new character is Thandie Newton's Stella, 'the accountant'. If the director intended her to be a strong female character he is worse than I ever imagined for all the slow motion shots of her legs, face and ass surely compromise and completely eradicate any idea of her as the brains behind the operation.
In short, the soundtrack's great, the stylized cinematography is unoriginal but great, and while Ritchie's film has an overly complicated plot and pretty standard Ritchie characters, it is definitely not his third turkey in a row. Starring Thandie Newton, Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson, the film is definitely worth a watch but don't hold your breath.