Respond to these rapid questions in our The Gentlemen Quiz and we will tell you which The Gentlemen character you are. Play it now.
“The Gentlemen” by Guy Ritchie plays like a tall tale, a yarn told at the corner pub, full of exaggerations and embellishments, and where the storyteller wants you to pay his bar tab at the conclusion. And perhaps you won’t mind it. The narrator is Fletcher (Hugh Grant), a conniving, unscrupulous private detective who boasts about everything he knows about the intersecting criminal-drug-lord elements operating in England, and sets out to blackmail… everyone… with a screenplay he’s written, laying it all out and naming names. Fletcher’s screenplay is titled “BUSH,” which is a euphemism for “marijuana,” and it’s an immensely intricate story about the marijuana industry’s “turf war”: everyone knows legalization is coming, and it’s coming quickly. The end is approaching. The “bush” double entendre is also included for laughs and to give you a feel of the general tone.
Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) is an American who sees an opportunity in the languishing English aristocracy, who sit in their decaying manors dreaming of the good old “Downton Abbey” days. Mickey swoops in and strikes agreements with “the toffs” in exchange for permission to cultivate marijuana on the premises. Mickey is married to Roz (Michelle Dockery, nicknamed “Lady Mary” in “Downton Abbey”), a “Cockney cleopatra” (in Fletcher’s words) who owns an auto body shop with only female mechanics. Also, you must try to play this The Gentlemen Quiz.
The Gentlemen Quiz
(There’s a lot more that could be said about Roz and her company.) The glimpse we receive is fascinating.) Mickey is ready to retire from the pot industry since he loves his wife. A Jewish American billionaire (Jeremy Strong) and a Chinese-Cockney mobster dubbed Dry Eye emerge as potential buyers (Henry Golding). Colin Farrell’s “Coach,” an Irishman who operates a boxing club and insists he’s not a mobster despite behaving in mafia-like ways, is the wild card. Ray (Charlie Hunnan), Mickey’s right-hand guy, is a mild-mannered man who appears to be a desk clerk until you see him in action. Then he’s downright terrifying. The title’s “gentlemen” is clearly sarcastically intended.
Hugh Grant, who provides an outstanding performance considering the circumstances, is nearly entirely responsible for how all of this comes together. The script, co-written by Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, and Marn Davies, plays with all of the genre cliches, but the overarching narrative is Fletcher “pitching” his film—of these ostensibly true events—to an increasingly terrified Ray. Fletcher is a parasite, one of those tabloid “writers” who enjoys being “in” on things, sees people and their reputations as disposable, and enjoys bragging about how much he knows and has recorded with his bazooka-sized telephoto lens. This “pitch” continues throughout the film, and when scenes unfold with Grant telling them, it appears as though the scenes are coming from Fletcher’s mind, but we are actually seeing what happened. Are we, or aren’t we? Fletcher is untrustworthy. “The Gentlemen’s” entire script is, thus, a script within a script, and this is its card in the hole. Between us and the characters, there’s always one layer. Also, you will find out which character are you in this The Gentlemen Quiz.
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I could have done without the running gags about “funny-sounding names” (it’s “Sixteen Candles”‘ “Long Duk Dong” all over again) and the scene in which rape is threatened. The anti-Semitic stereotype is all over the place, and the Jewish billionaire speaks in a stereotypically “gay” style (no other way to put it; he could as well be lisping). Perhaps that is the point, but it is an old one. In “The Gentlemen,” there’s a lot that’s truly humorous and a lot that’s legitimately scary. These things felt flimsy and unmotivated.
Hugh Grant has been doing something exciting in the last couple of years, despite the fact that he has always been really brilliant. As he’s moved into another age bracket, and out of affable self-deprecating Leading Man status, a formidable character actor has risen. As a character actor, Grant’s possibilities expand, and he’s been making the most of them. A excellent example is the one-two punch of “Paddington 2” and “A Very English Scandal,” both of which were released in the same year. Grant was flexing acting muscles he hadn’t been required to flex in the past, and it was fascinating to witness. And he’s thrilling in this part, which is basically exposition, let’s face it. It’s essentially one lengthy monologue. You, on the other hand, are enthralled by him.
He places his hand on Hunnam’s knee, recognizes it’s an unwelcome contact, understands he’s been caught touching inappropriately, and then breaks into a frantic pop-eyed, “Oopsie #sorrynotsorry” face. It threw me to the ground. Character-based, behavior-based humor is my favorite type of comedy. Grant serves as his own gravitational force because he is so singularly entertaining and so broad (yet connected) in his characterization and line readings (“There’ll be blood and fucking feathers everywhere, darling,” he croons with pleasure). Mickey Pearson may be in charge, but Fletcher has the last say.
For more personality quizzes check this: Little Women Quiz.
