Review by C.J. Bunce
Guy Ritchie’s new series The Gentlemen is Quentin Tarantino without the bloodbathed operatic climax. Is Ritchie the British Tarantino? Mob and crime stories have been done so many times, so many ways. Was The Godfather or The Godfather II the best? Certainly nothing with the name Scorsese is at the top. But if you count The Bank Job as the right blend of intrigue and crime, you may just see why The Gentlemen should be on your list as among the year’s best action, thriller, or drama. It doesn’t have the style, quick, tight editing, and fun of Ritchie’s adaptation of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but it comes close, and it is more fun than his Sherlock Holmes movies. It’s streaming now on Netflix, and you’re not going to want to miss it.
Best known for his role in Divergent and Allegiant, Theo James stars as Captain Eddie Horniman, the surprise new Duke of Halstead, whose dead father kept secrets that have fallen squarely on his son’s lap–namely, an inextricable participation in Bobby Glass’s major marijuana organization, participating by having a giant lab underneath the centuries-old estate (built way back in 1550). Glass’s crime organization is run by his early thirty-something daughter, a sharp and picture perfect businesswoman and strategist with style, some class, cockney London quick speech, and endless wardrobe, Susie Glass, played by Kaya Scodelario (Pirates of the Caribbean, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, The Maze Runner). Look for Scodelario up for all the TV awards come awards season, because this is one of those roles any actor would die for.
Warrior was last year’s top action and crime series, and it’s hard to beat its stunning writing, its characters, its layering of historical fiction, and intense action. The Gentlemen has more twists, but is more of a straightforward tale. But it also doesn’t have the studio obligatory extraneous sex, which bogged down Warrior. Like the previous year’s big series The Offer, The Gentlemen has superb characterization and surprises. The cast of The Gentlemen is impeccable, complete with a token Redgrave for luck. That’s Joely Richardson (The Sandman, Maggie) as Lady Sabrina, Daniel Ings as the crazy addict passed-over brother of Eddie–a brilliant actor that is key to the success of the show, Vinnie Jones (Arrow, X-Men: The Last Stand) as the gamekeeper, and new to the scene Michael Vu as Jimmy, the dope expert who looks and sounds like he came straight from Attack the Block. And if you want some street cred to rope you in, consider Bobby Glass is played by Ray Winstone (Indiana Jones IV, The Departed) and a chief rival is played by Giancarlo Esposito (Homicide: Life on the Street, The Mandalorian).
The writers created this mobster story out of something unusual. The Gentlemen is a beat for beat take on the popular 2000-2005 Scottish series Monarch of the Glen, a story of a young man inheriting his family’s estate, only to encounter the crazy requirements to keep it afloat–complete with a doting mother, a newly pregnant sister, and lots of antics–everything but the violence, the mob, and its corresponding colorful metaphors.
The Tarantino comparisons can be found in every episode, but the series would never be confused for being a Tarantino production, and that’s a testament to Ritchie’s eye for style, cinematography, and crisp editing. Also the music, a blend of familiar classical melodies inserted in the best way at the right times, and Christopher Benstead’s spot-on musical score. Yes, viewers will find plenty of blood splatter, vile characters, like one who makes Eddie’s brother dress in a chicken suit, the whole preposterous scheme of finding drug facilities under a dozen Brit noble family estates, and a fixed prizefight involving Susie’s brother. But Ritchie also knows when to hold back.
Ritchie doesn’t fall into the frequent traps of these plots. Eddie and Susie don’t have even the faintest hint of a romance. The show has no sex scenes. On the downside, the series is heavily weighted toward male characters, with only Susie, Lady Sabrina, Ruby Sear as Jimmy’s unlikely girlfriend, and a moll named Mercy played by Martha Millan driving the plot forward. The lack of an action movie car chase is more than made up for with the odd needs and quid pro quos required of Eddie and Susie from a league of diverse denizens played by Esposito, Millan, Pearce Quigley (Gospel John), Gary Beadle (Thick Rick), Kristofer Hivju (Florian de Groot), Max Beesley (Collins), and Peter Serafinowicz (Tommy Dixon).
If you think you’ve heard of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, it’s because the series is a loose spin-off of his 2019 movie of the same name. You don’t need to have seen the movie to see the series, which has no common characters.
It’s slick, it’s fun, and it’s smart. A contender for top prize for the year’s best TV series, catch all eight episodes of The Gentlemen now streaming on Netflix.
