Urban Thought Collective

Movie Biases: Loved “Snatch” - looks like Ritchie in his element.

Major Players: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Mark Strong, Idris Elba, writer/director Guy Ritchie

Logline: A real estate deal between a gangster (Wilkinson) and a shady Russian businessman (Karel Roden) sucks in the London underworld around two robberies of 7 million euros each, a missing painting, and a publicly dead yet very much alive junkie rocknrolla named Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell).

The Deal:
This is what Guy Ritchie was born to do: create Byzantine tales of British gangster skullduggery. Anything else outside of this narrow niche (i.e. “Swept Away”) is a waste of talent. Once again, Ritchie plunges headlong (and without a Cockney translator) into the London universe of junkies, snitches, thieves, and “poofs” with accents and attitudes thicker than armored cars shrouded by London fog. Darkly comedic, whip pan friendly, and delightfully sequel-ready, Ritchie’s “RocknRolla” is yet another serpentine tale of loyal disloyalties, criminal brotherhood, drug-addled antiheroes, and…dancing? Yes, lots of dancing.

A seamlessly professional ensemble propels the film forward, featuring a blustery, spitfaced Tom Wilkinson as a greedy, amoral mob boss; a no-nonsense, laid back Idris Elba in his native accent; an impossibly thin but sultry Thandie Newton as “the very gifted and financially creative” crooked accountant Stella; as well as the id-fueled “waster” of a rock star performance by Toby Kebbell as the titular, talented but ultimately self-destructive rocknrolla himself Johnny Quid.

The least impressive parts of the movie I have to say are the Americans Jeremy Piven and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. They aren’t bad but added nothing to this already well-crafted piece of Ritchie gangster pop.

However, the standout of this film is our narrator, thankless do-boy flunky #2 to the boss Archie, played by Mark Strong. Yes, this is the same Mark Strong (fully unleashed in his native British accent as well) who came across so convincingly as the sinister, gentlemanly head of Jordanian Secret Service in “Body of Lies” that I am a one-man lobbying campaign for an Oscar nomination. The brilliantly versatile Mark Strong is making 2008 his personal coming out party, and I’ve got my party favor in hand; he’s my new Chiwetel Ejiofor, my hidden foreign gem destined to be a big international star.

Like a title of its genre might suggest, “RocknRolla” is a lot of hedonistic fun. Psycho indestructible Russian superthugs, junkie models, golf course tortures; the state of rising values of London “bricks and mortars;” plus a little dash of sex thrown in…There’s something for everyone’s hoodlum within here. But unlike the @@@@ “Snatch” which featured a dose of genuine emotion for Brad Pitt’s Pikey ma, “RocknRolla” is good, gritty fun without much heart to it.

But this ain’t no Merchant Ivory costume drama! This is “RocknRolla” - adjust your synapses accordingly.

@@@ REELS

(THREE REELS)

It’s pretty hot - go give it a shot.

UTC’s resident film critic Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for The 213 Magazine, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com where his new novel I DO? is available NOW.