Review by C.J. Bunce
Guy Ritchie gave his fans a new series this year that was, at first announcement, befuddling. Hadn’t he already made a movie called The Gentlemen? Of course he had, but if an idea works–and in this case, if a trope works–why not come at it again from another angle? The series easily landed as one of the year’s best all-around: It had enough of that mainstream drama to bring in anyone who was a fan of British TV. It was a crime story with some mystery, bringing in a wider crowd. And the understated humor can’t be overstated as a reason to stick around. A mob and crime story that bridged the stuff of England’s (and Ireland’s, and Scotland’s) rougher corners and the now-tired stuff of American mob shows. In my review here at borg I spoke of The Bank Job as the right blend of intrigue and crime, and if you agree you may just see why the series The Gentlemen should be on your list as among the year’s best action, thriller, or drama shows. We pegged it the best drama and best British series of the year in our year-end review. It’s the 2024 series that will stick with you.
So how does it fare against Guy Ritchie’s movie of the same name?
I think the series wins.
You’re in a tough battle for sure. The movie starred “awlright, awlright, awlright” Matthew McConaughey as Michael Pearson, an innovative criminal who organizes a series of a few dozen marijuana farms on (and with the consent and participation of) the landed gentry of England. Having amassed a fortune and considering retirement, he is willing to part with the enterprise for £300-400 million. This character is the starting point for the father of Theo James’s Eddie Horniman, the driving force in the series. The change-up is viewers are moved along to one of those estate owners as key protagonist, and only secondarily witness the antics of the man behind the idea–Ray Winstone’s Bobby Glass in the series.
Best known for his role in Divergent and Allegiant, Theo James is 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, 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).
Susie Glass is the missing piece of the movie. The movie version is Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery’s Rosalind Pearson, wife of McConaughey’s empire builder. Dockery’s character suffers from being sidelined for the entire story, so even if we see some glimpses of a badass Brit in a few scenes, Ritchie holds it all back to become speculation for the audience, hints that her backstory is more anything than we actually get to see. The difficulty in watching the movie, which is from 2019–only five years ago–is figuring why Ritchie never thought to include more women. It’s also the #1 issue with the series, despite introducing strong characters like Eddie Horniman’s mother (Joely Richardson, of Redgrave acting street cred genes, no less) and Jasmine Blackborow as his pregnant sister, who we can only hope gets to participate in all the crime antics next season (if not take over altogether?). Yes, I know it’s called “The Gentlemen,” but that’s no excuse. The proof is how Scodelario owns every scene she is in. You’re left wanting more of her than anyone else.
Warrior was 2023’s top action and crime series, and you can’t 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. But like 2022’s big series The Offer (not a crime story, but about the making of a mob movie), The Gentlemen has superb characterization and surprises. The movie also isn’t about the sex, yet the innuendo is heavy, and when there it usually takes away from the movie.
The protagonist of the movie is none of the above–Crimson Peak’s Charlie Hunnam is Ray, practically a stock character for most of the movie–F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Nick Carraway, who serves as the audience’s point of view to all the crime antics. Until the story kicks in. Unfortunately the audience must wade through much monologue and explaining before any action. The third act is where the magic happens in the movie, if you can make it that long. The series by comparison is good for most of the ride.
Daniel Ings as the crazy addict and passed-over brother of Eddie–a brilliant actor that is key to the success of the show, is the wild card of the series. In the movie, the addled, baffling, finagling fellow is Hugh Grant’s conniving Fletcher, a type we got to see done better in a competing TV show from across the pond this year, Peacock’s 1970s crime drama Fight Night, which starred Kevin Hart as a wannabe con man who just can’t get a break. But this was heavy lifting for Grant, who never seems to have gotten his footing as an actor despite his varied roles and up-and-down career, yet he rises to the occasion here. Each of the movie and series also sports one key scrabbler for the bad guys. In the movie that’s Henry Golding (G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes) as Dry Eye, a rising mobster who wants to take over, and in the series that’s Max Beesley (The Outsider) as Henry Collins. These characters are another swappable component that crosses the projects, both with similar ends.
The best part of the movie? That’s Colin Farrell’s “Coach,” who establishes the idea of a personal “code” for the franchise. There are things even criminals aren’t supposed to do, and there is, somehow, honor among (some) thieves. If I had my hand into the doings of Brit and American movies, I would pull Farrell out of 2024’s The Penguin (where the script didn’t match his his talent) and position him as Coach in the continuity of the series. That would be great fun because you will never forget Farrell being kindly tough as only someone from Great Britain could pull off… in a tartan track suit. The movie doesn’t kick in until Farrell begins cleaning up after the actions of the young men he is trying to mentor.
New constructs that work for the series are Vinnie Jones (Arrow, X-Men: The Last Stand) as the gamekeeper, and Michael Vu as Jimmy, the dope expert who looks and sounds like he came straight from Attack the Block. Fortunately the drug biz is just a MacGuffin all the action spins around. That’s another bit that could be swapped out for any other illegal vice–the story would still work.
The villain is so swappable that if you view the series first and movie second, you’re literally in for no surprises. Jeremy Strong’s Matthew and Giancarlo Esposito’s Stanley Johnston are the same guy, and you can’t help but wish for the same just desserts for both characters because their slimy nature is somehow worse than everyone else’s. That is, both of these guys are willing to do anything to get what they want at the lowest price, including steal, fight, maim, or kill. The Ritchie twist is these guys don’t look like the villains fans of mob movies are accustomed to–a casting agent would not likely swap them for Robert De Niro or Al Pacino.
Ritchie’s best work from a complete production standpoint seems to be all that style, class, quick, tight editing, and fun in his adaptation of the TV 1960s series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but you can see how the movie comes close, and the series is heading in the right direction. The costumes in the movie, from Michael Wilkinson (Justice League, Aladdin, Tron: Legacy, Sky High, Watchmen, Andor, The Twilight Saga) are the most standout, and most stylish feature of the movie or series. Luckily for Ritchie fans, the series has been greenlit for a second season.
A sidebar for fans of the current British series All Creatures Great and Small is a bit part in the movie for Samuel West as a landowner who uses his influence to get his estranged daughter to return as part of one of many subplots.
Both the series and movie are slick, fun, and smart. You hope directors get better with each new project, like everyone in every profession, and Ritchie’s series is an improvement on the movie. But you’ll want to try them both. Catch all eight first-season episodes of The Gentlemen and the movie, both now streaming on Netflix.
