ROCKNROLLA (2008) - Guy Ritchie

Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells kicked off the sub-genre of London gangster films. Films about geezas, right royal hard bastards. After the success of the film, innumerable imitations, rip-offs and Ritchie's own follow-up, Snatch, the genre got tired and dull. Ritchie himself tried his hand at something different, and made two films so poorly received that people began to wonder if Ritchie had actually lost his mind. He returns to the genre he's most comfortable with in the film RocknRolla, released this week.

RocknRolla follows the same old formula as Ritchie's other gangster films. We have an artifact of some sort. This time, instead of a pair of shotguns or a diamond, it's a painting. The artifact is in the hands of a 'godfather' of a London gang, Lenny Cole played by Tom Wilkinson. The painting is knicked and a whole slew of gangsters, cheekie chappies, hard-nuts and whatever other description you want to use for these character are charged with getting it back before the claret flows. Cole's stepson, rocker, junkie, and suspected dead-man Johnny Quid has stolen the painting and everyone must get use their contacts on the streets, fists and guns to return the painting to Cole so he can complete a deal he's making with a Russian football-club-owning billionaire.



If you've seen Lock, Stock and Snatch, then you've pretty much seen RocknRolla. Which is actually unfair to the previous two films, because they were actually pretty entertaining. RocknRolla is more of the same old, same old. There's very little subtlety, character development or story. There's a voice-over which just seems to be a cop-out in terms of letting the story tell itself, and the snazzy camera flourishes just distract from what is a simplistic and brainless plot. Instead of developing characters, Ritchie just gives people hats and kooky names which are never explained and never seem to describe the characters they're attached to.

The acting isn't really up to much either. Tom Wilkinson is awful, and I do mean awful as Lenny Cole. Wilkinson seems to have overdosed on The Long Good Friday and is regurgitating Bob Hoskins' role from that film. Gerard Butler breezes through proceedings with a wry smile. But it doesn't take much to do that. The rest of the cast is filled with a couple of familiar British faces, two small roles for Jeremy Piven and Chris Bridges playing the token Americans, and Thandie Newton who adds nothing to the proceeding other than a female face. The only really notable performance is from Toby Kebbell as Johnny Quid. But it's not really the fault of the actors that none of them have much to do. The film is just written that way. I wouldn't be surprised if the character description in the screenplay consisted of 'he wears a trilby hat' or 'he has a Scottish accent.'



1999 called and it wants RocknRolla back. The film is part of a sub-genre that has long ago run out of steam. It has elements that relate to London today. Especially the addition of a Russian billionaire who owns a football club. It's that kind of ham-fisted subtlety that is all over RocknRolla. It's neither original nor innovative. Just a step-back in Guy Ritchie's career. It seems that he cant even make a decent version of a genre piece he once was the poster-boy for. It's not rubbish. But it's not particularly good. And it feels a helluva lot longer than 114 minutes. I weep for Sherlock Holmes.*

*Guy Ritchie's "Awight Guvna', It's Right Royal Sherlock Holmes" coming 2010.


5/10

MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007) - Tony Gilroy

George Clooney returns to the screens this month in a film that is miles apart from the other film he was in this year, Ocean’s 13. This time, Clooney goes serious in a film that attempts to tackle that oft-broached subject of the evils of big business. How it tramples on the little guy all for the sake of saving money for the evil, faceless members of the board of directors and investors. In Michael Clayton, Clooney plays the title character. Clayton works for one of the largest law firms in the world. He’s been with the company seventeen years, but because of his social class, where he came from, he has never been offered the position of partner.

Instead, Clayton has carved somewhat of a niche for himself as a fixer. He’s the guy the company calls when embarrassing situations arise that need to be handled discreetly. It’s not a job Clayton seems to enjoy, nor is it one that offers him financial security. Clayton co-owns a failing bar. He seeks out underground poker games and gambles his money away. His family life is far from ideal. It’s a role Clooney plays very well. You can see the fatigue on his face. Life really has run him down. It seems that Clooney is better at playing these types of characters than the likes of Danny Ocean, a role he’s pretty much become a star with. Yet with this, Syriana, and the films Clooney has directed himself, Clooney proves he has the talent to back up the superstar status.



Clayton is called in to clean up the mess made by Arthur Edens, one of the top lawyers in the company Clayton works for, and the primary lawyer in a large class-action suit between 450 farmers and chemical firm, U-North. Clayton thinks he knows how to handle the Edens situation, but there’s more to this problem than Clayton is aware of. Meanwhile, at U-North, the career of litigator Karen Crowder rests on the successful resolution of the class action suit. A race begins to fix the mess created by Edens. And with pressure mounting from his superiors, and threats on his life, Clayton finds himself buckling under the pressure.

Director Tony Gilroy previously wrote the screenplays for the excellent Bourne films. Michael Clayton, marks his debut as director. This film certainly has the same feel as the Bourne films when to comes to the talking. However, I wouldn’t rush to see it and expect the same type of film. There’s little to no action in this film. It’s a slow burner. And at two hours, it feels long. The success of the film rests with the actors. This is, after all, a character piece. Clooney, as I’ve mentioned is very good in the central role. Clayton is in no way a strong character. While talented at his job, almost every other aspect of his life is a failure. For such a successful actor to portray a role like this requires some degree of talent. And that talent is obvious here. Tom Wilkinson plays Arthur Edens. Wilkinson is a terrific character actor. He’s made quite the career since for himself since The Full Monty, and he plays the unhinged Edens very well. Tilda Swinton’s performance as Karen Crowder is the standout performance, however. She’s very much on the edge, almost having a nervous breakdown due to the fear she feels with her job. Yet at the same time, she’s remarkably cool when selling the lies about U-North. One scene intercuts her preparation for an interview with the interview itself. It’s very interesting to watch an actor switch between the two states of mind so successfully.




While the cast (which also includes Sydney Pollack) is excellent, and the message of the film is clear, it’s not really anything new. We’ve seen this kind of thing before in Syriana and Michael Mann’s The Insider. While the film isn’t terrible by an degree, it’s not something I’d be rushing to see in the cinema. It’s something that can wait for home viewing. Somewhere you know you’ll be more comfortable!


6/10