Would somebody PLEASE stop Guy Ritchie from writing scripts like a 15 year old public schoolboy living out some ridiculous nefarious fantasies. I cannot believe that anyone can see this film as anything other than what it is - a stream of Guy Ritchie consciousness packaged up with a load of bad language, embarrassing dialogue, two-dimensional characters you couldn't care less about and utterly utterly stupid plot - at least this time he's not trying to make it look like a Bacardi Breezer commercial - and for that I give it one more star!
As if to justify some kind of scriptwriter credentials he makes almost every single major character (of which there are many) take turns to spout half-baked philosophical claptrap as if it would give this UTTER RUBBISH some kind of value: "See that fag packet over there.....it's like life....." WHHAAAT? I cringed through most of this film listening to this nonsense; by the end I was actually feeling sorry for Ritchie for actually believing that he had some kind of talent as a writer. I enjoyed "Lock, Stock..." and "Snatch" but by the end of that film I was saying, 'yes, very clever, but enough now thank you.' After the diabolical "Swept Away" and unwatchable "Revolver" it appears that otherwise perfectly logical people seem desperate to put him back on his pedestal as 'The British Tarentino' (which he isn't, and never will be) - so much so that they are prepared to swallow anything slightly better than those two films - which it is...but only slightly.
To his credit, however, the direction is more assured and less reliant on gimmicks and the one short action scene (when it finally gets going after being irritatingly inter-cut by some (more) talking nonsense) is tremendously enjoyable. The cast is great but the acting is extremely mercurial. And, sorry but what was that gay subplot all about? Is Ritchie trying to engage a new audience or something? When it's conducted with the subtlety of an elephant on a waltzer (was that the Blue Oyster Bar from Police Academy?) I can't imagine too many converts - clumsy, crass, unfunny, pointless, offensive and just plain stupid - just like this film.
As I was watching this film I was thinking, 'If you are going to make me listen to this crud for two hours then at least give me something entertaining to look at'; I actually yearned for the visuals of Ritchie's first two films and this is what made me believe that Ritchie's films are moving backwards - and for a director that's unforgivable. Respect your audience, stop writing and start directing other people's scripts PLEASE!
As Harrison Ford once said to George Lucas on the set of Star Wars, "George, you can write this sh*t but you sure can't say it!".
As if to justify some kind of scriptwriter credentials he makes almost every single major character (of which there are many) take turns to spout half-baked philosophical claptrap as if it would give this UTTER RUBBISH some kind of value: "See that fag packet over there.....it's like life....." WHHAAAT? I cringed through most of this film listening to this nonsense; by the end I was actually feeling sorry for Ritchie for actually believing that he had some kind of talent as a writer. I enjoyed "Lock, Stock..." and "Snatch" but by the end of that film I was saying, 'yes, very clever, but enough now thank you.' After the diabolical "Swept Away" and unwatchable "Revolver" it appears that otherwise perfectly logical people seem desperate to put him back on his pedestal as 'The British Tarentino' (which he isn't, and never will be) - so much so that they are prepared to swallow anything slightly better than those two films - which it is...but only slightly.
To his credit, however, the direction is more assured and less reliant on gimmicks and the one short action scene (when it finally gets going after being irritatingly inter-cut by some (more) talking nonsense) is tremendously enjoyable. The cast is great but the acting is extremely mercurial. And, sorry but what was that gay subplot all about? Is Ritchie trying to engage a new audience or something? When it's conducted with the subtlety of an elephant on a waltzer (was that the Blue Oyster Bar from Police Academy?) I can't imagine too many converts - clumsy, crass, unfunny, pointless, offensive and just plain stupid - just like this film.
As I was watching this film I was thinking, 'If you are going to make me listen to this crud for two hours then at least give me something entertaining to look at'; I actually yearned for the visuals of Ritchie's first two films and this is what made me believe that Ritchie's films are moving backwards - and for a director that's unforgivable. Respect your audience, stop writing and start directing other people's scripts PLEASE!
As Harrison Ford once said to George Lucas on the set of Star Wars, "George, you can write this sh*t but you sure can't say it!".