So much average

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It's not a badly made film. It has a decent cast and some of the music is pretty cool. Sadly this isn't enough to rescue it from tedium. It's basically just the same old same old from Guy Ritchie again, a reworking of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, all cockney "geezers" and gangsters "having it large" and speaking in a cool way that nobody on Earth has ever spoken like. It has the clichéd Russian gangsters, the "salt of the earth" villains who destroy peoples lives but hey, they look after each others Mums, so you know, they're Saints really in Ritchie's gross fantasy.Absolutely nobody in the film is remotely likable, it plays to the usual movie tropes of glamorizing drugs or at the least making junkies seem comedic. The central villain played by a miscast Tom Wilkinson is brought down for the crime of "grassing" on various lowlifes and scumbags. Really? This is meant to be a bad thing? The Rocknrolla of the title is his stepson, a musician turned crackhead who is completely odious but is of course presented as witty and "cool" because he listens to The Clash. Do me a favour.Ritchie should have stuck with Madonna, at least you knew you'd be served up utter dreck that way. He strikes me as a one trick pony whose films have deteriorated in quality over time to the point of absolute drudgery.

Guy Ritchie's Rocknrolla was the third British crime comedy caper for the director, and it could have easily been the misstep that signaled him wearing out his welcome. Happily I can tell you that it's a winner, and although not as cracking as Lock Stock or Snatch, it sinks into its own distinct groove that's fairly removed from it's two predecessors. Once again we are treated to the life and times of a bunch of hoods and gangsters in London, but not the grungy, back alley soup kitchen London that we're used to from Ritchie. No, this is a glistening, prosperous London, filled with real estate money ripe for the taking and developers making underhanded deals with shady businessmen. The climate has definitely changed in Ritchie's aesthetic, but the characters remain the same, just as witty, eccentric and chock full of pissss and vinegar. The story centers around the wild bunch, a cozy little clan of East end petty thieves led by One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba). Their third musketeer is Handsome Bob, played by a hilarious Tom Hardy who has a secret up his sleeve that spills out in what is the most adorable scene Ritchie has ever written. The gang is hired by a mysterious chick (Thandie Newton) to rob some dudes, and that's where the trouble starts. Elsewhere in town, arch gangster Lenny Cole (a frothing Tom Wilkinson) negotiates a land deal with dangerous Russian billionaire Uri (Karel Roden switches up his trademark psychosis for smooth talking menace here) that hinges on a missing painting. Lenny dispatches his right hand bloke Archie (Mark Strong, subtly trolling us) to find it along with his rock star nephew Johnny Quid. Got that? Nevermind, half the fun is the how and not the why of Ritchie's stories, and I find it best to just let the flow of it wash over you as opposed to thinking out each detail and missing the sideshow. Toby Kebbell is off the hook as Quid, a wiry stick of dynamite and a comic force to be reckoned with, truly the most exciting performance of the film. Ritchie has a knack for bringing out the funny side in actors, even ones that aren't usually the type to make you laugh. Strong is terrific, with a few carefully timed moments of sheer hilarity that deftly make you forget how dangerous he is. Ludicrous and Jeremy Piven are fun, if a bit out of place as two event promoters. Butler and Elba have an easy-peasy rapport that's light, friendly and believable. Wilkinson dances between alpha assuredness and aging buffoonry nicely, always commanding the scene and oddly reminding me of Mr. Magoo. There's a playful tone to this one, glitzy and celebratory in places where Snatch was grim and sketchy, and the whole affair feels like a new years party with a bunch of old friends. Watch for cameos from Matt King, Nonzo Anonzie, Jimi Mistry, Mundungus Fletcher and Gemma Arterton. Very fun stuff.

It's not that I don't appreciate some of the work of Guy Ritchie. He had a nice start with Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. And both Sherlock Holmes movies present an interesting twist on a famous character. Although I suspect the latter is more due to Robert Downey Jr.'s immense talent. Problem is, when he did Lock Stock..., it seemed like a harmless comedy. A bit of fun and capers at the expense of what Guy assumes is the "gangster lifestyle". After watching RockNRolla, you begin to suspect that this guy secretly wishes to have an army of Vinnie Joneses and Mark Strongs roughing up anyone who dares stand in his path of domination.All the ingredients are in place. You have the old time cockney crime boss, played by Tom Wilkinson, and his trusted right hand man and enforcer, played by Mark Strong. You have Gerard Butler, Idris Elba and Tom Hardy as the small time crooks who call themselves The Wild Bunch. You have a Russian businessman/gangster wanting to invest in London property, and has no qualms in showing guys like Wilkinson that times have changed, and that they are no match for those yielding his type of power and money. Add a junkie rock and roll star (Toby Kebbell), playing another anachronistic Guy Ritchie fantasy. The Russians' accountant (Thandie Newton) who backstabs him thanks to her connections to The Wild Bunch, some enforcers, two American music promoters, and all you have to do is shake, stir them all together somehow, and you have another cocktail of "hilarious consequences", and someone's idea of glamorous/ruthless crime life ready to serve.Sure, there is a plot involving a stolen painting. And a final twist where it turns out Tom Wilkinson is a police informer, resulting in death by crayfish at the hands of Mark Strong. But it all seems to take a backseat to a lot of jump cuts, exposition, violence, and attempts at humorous, witty quips. The people we care about don't get that honor because we like the cartoonish characters. Just cause we like the actors. Mark Strong is a menacing, strong presence, like he was in the first Sherlock Holmes. And Idris Elba is genuine class. Other than that, there are too many clichés, like Wilkinson. And Gerard Butler is a Poseur of the highest order (of course he has a sex scene with Newton that you can spot a mile away). Not to mention Toby Kebbell, as an insufferable, self-obsessed, profound statement spouting brat, who needed his tongue ripped out with red hot pliers.In the end, you might think there is a hidden sub-plot/morality tale about criminal money being used to hike up the price of properties in London, and pricing other residents out. Or you would, if that was given more than 30 seconds at the start of the film. What you end up getting is a glimpse into someone else's adolescent fascination. Which, frankly, could do with a little dose of subtlety, taste, and proper characterization.

I'll give Guy Ritchie some credit and I'm prepared to accept that this is certainly a handsome and stylish looking film, and, to an extent is also fairly well put together. However, that's probably about the best I can say for it to be honest...The set-up for the story opens with promise and as expected we're bearing witness to a twisting, turning narrative complete with one or two surprises to follow later in the film. Despite the promising set-up though it's actually surprising how uninvolving this film is as a whole. Essentially it's a rather humourless tale complete with rather shallow characters who share little rapport or chemistry. I think a combination of flat characterisation and a pedestrian script are perhaps the biggest contributors to this film being a bit of a snore-fest. Whilst Ritchie weaves all the strands of the story together well he does occasionally get side-tracked with pointless and dumb plot elements (such as the two junkies flogging items and Tom Hardy's character being gay). The slapping scene is another example of a moderately amusing gag being stretched rather thin and again seemed to add unnecessary running time to the picture. I couldn't help but feel that this is another 90 minute film that's been painfully stretched to nearly 120 minutes which perhaps explains why I found large parts of the film to be rather boring.Looking at RockNRolla in 2016 it's interesting to see the likes of Tom Hardy and Idris Elba before they hit the big time and whilst Tom Hardy was actually very good here sadly Idris Elba didn't make the same impact - although I'd put more of the blame on Guy Ritchie for underusing Elba and giving him nothing to do. Tom Wilkinson is good fun as mob boss Lenny Cole but he gives a rather hammy performance which wears thin and stops becoming fun by the time we reach the second half of the picture. Mark Strong is solid as Cole's loyal right-hand man and Toby Kebbell is also amusing here but isn't really given enough screen time to make the necessary impact.Having enjoyed both Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch I did have high hopes for RockNRolla and expected more of the same, and whilst Guy Ritchie admirably weaves all the strands of the story together well he does it all in a rather humourless and dull manner making this film something of a yawner.