The Gentlemen

You can tell Guy Ritchie only wrote (co-wrote) and directed the first two episodes as the show starts off with a crack and runs into a muddy and convoluted plot in episodes 5-7 and a fairly uncreative ending in episode 8.

The show shines with the casting - primarily Kaya Scodelario as Susie Glass. Actually everyone is strong except for Theo James who I thought was miscast and would think he is a poor actor given his track record had it not been for White Lotus Season 2. I don't think he has found his acting niche yet but this isn't it.

There are still Guy Ritchie vibes in the rest of the show after episode 2 and a fun and entertaining cast of characters. Messy plot in the back half and a little uncreative for Ritchie standards but a fun and high energy show.

If you like this sort of thing: wild, over the top and sometimes ruthless British blokes with a dark sense of humor, you'll probably watch in one binge sitting.

For myself, I found a lot of new faces, so I didn't know what to expect. The leads are entertaining. Vinnie Jones is a nice addition, as a more laid back, but don't mess with me fellow.

The old English estate setting is great to look at in itself.

Once again, Guy Richie has no problem creating a rich environment, and dialog is cleaver and sharp.

Grab a bottle of wine and enjoy the ride.

Never going to top Lock, Stock, Etc or Snatch, but this is great fun.

Highly recommended.

The Gentleman is a spin off of the movie of the same name. The movie was great and had big stars involved in it like Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant, Jeremy Strong among others so based off that star power alone I thought this wouldn't measure up. I was wrong. This was brilliant. I literally couldn't stop watching this and enjoyed every second of it. The story is about an aristocrat (Theo James) who inherits the family estate. He's unaware that that estate includes running one of the biggest drug empires in the country. That drug syndicate doesn't plan on going anywhere either. You can tell Guy Ritchie was heavily involved in this because it has his style all over it. If you like his films you'll like this series too.

If that makes any sense. What I'm trying to say while pointing Aristotle's quote into a mirror, is that this is worth watching simply for all of the outstanding individual performances. There are many other reasons to tune in, but the acting clinic on parade here is a lot of fun.

The Parts:

#1 - The Story

Of course, this story began with the film but has only a very tangential relationship with that work. Every episode has a beginning, middle, and an end, as well as a cliffhanger or something else to propel viewers onward. As with his movies, some of the stories worked for me, others didn't. Some of the conflicts were just way too facile with their resolutions. Eddie was pushed into way too many predicaments as he tried to extract his family from the business, accepting too many dangerous assignments for reasons not adequately explained, not to me.

#2 - The Dialogue

Ritchie seems to have developed his own form of dialogue in which street toughs and lowlifes converse with a sort of modern day Shakespearean banter, well above the vernacular of the average dirtbag, whether in real life or in other movies. While Tarantino was propelled into stardom for the way in which some of his characters lapse into long soliloquys, whether on their own or in a group, Ritchie's creations throw around a lot of word-a-day calendar vocabulary in their speechifying. It comes off affected at times, but more often than not his dialogue is a lot of fun.

#3 - The Characters

Bringing fun-as-hell characters to life on the screen is definitely Ritchie's strong point, or one of them. Eddie, Susie, Jimmy, Bobby, and Geoff could all walk away from this and carry their own series. It helps to have such talented actors reading you lines, and it definitely is important for actors to have great material to spin into the roles they help to create.

Compared to about 99% of what is out there in TV and movie land, this series was positively brilliant. Period.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series, although I acknowledge that I easily cleared two hurdles that viewers with lower ratings might not: I loved Guy Ritchie's style and didn't find it getting old on me; I didn't know about any movie, so I'm seeing these as "fresh" takes from the start.

Every character in this series was fun to get to know and to try to understand. What complexity. What eccentricity along with believable nuance.

Every actor succeeded in pulling off finely crafted individuals that fit perfectly into the sometimes off-the-wall plot.

They lure viewers in, which is a great reason to keep going.

Another great reason, of course, is that plot.

What a ride!