RocknRolla

I'm hesitant to post this review after Nilay's wistful pining for a bygone era of film criticism, in which reviews were more than just "random opinions" but compositions crafted by genuine analysts whose passion regarding a recommendation could be relied upon. Unfortunately, having recently posted several brief, numbered reviews like this, I think I might be reasonably within the crosshairs of Nilay's wrath. That being said, I simply do not have all that much to say about RocknRolla, but I do have some things to say. Sometimes I will have more to say (like here, and here), and in those cases, I aspire to meet Nilay's standard, but today, I'm just going to give you some random impressions of what I thought about the film. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, RocknRolla:

The Plot: One-Two (Gerard Butler) wants to buy some property, so he borrows some money from local crime boss Lenny (Tom Wilkinson); in order to get the money and the property, Lenny pulls some strings to keep One-Two from getting it developed to sell, so One-Two owes Lenny big bucks. Meanwhile, Lenny makes a deal with a Russian to get some other property developed, and the Russian lends him his "lucky" painting as a token of their business relationship. Meanwhile, the Russian's accountant, Stella (Thandie Newton), is asked to get the money for the Russian to give to Lenny. She decides to have it stolen so she can get some of it for herself, and finds a local criminal, none other than One-Two, to steal it for her. Meanwhile, Lenny's rock musician stepson (the titular "Rock'n'Rolla") steals the "lucky" painting, and then the Russian, disconcerted by the "unlucky" stealing of his money, wants it back from Lenny. So Lenny's after the painting, and the Russian is after the thief. As often happens in Guy Ritchie films, all these people and other unsavory underworld characters cross each other's paths in a conveniently contrived symphony of errors. If it sounds convoluted, it's because it is.

Notes:

1. There is a very interesting 15 minute-long narrated montage at the beginning of the film to explain who everyone is and why the characters are motivated. I don't think I've ever seen an exposition like this before. It was reminiscent of the "what happened last season" recap that they play on Lost right before they show the new episodes.

2. It was a good role for Gerard Butler as he continues to become the "Next Clive Owen." As "One-Two," Butler gets kind of a lead role, but not really, as the number of storylines and characters limits his screen time. He carried it well, and it also exercised some comedy chops I didn't realize he had. To illustrate the role further, "One-Two" was essentially the character Jason Statham would have played if he hadn't been so busy strenuously bodybuilding for Death Race and Transporter III. I guess Statham's bad career choices are Butler's gain.

3. RocknRolla is a muted homage to Pulp Fiction. It's not explicit, but there are a couple scenes that lead me to think there was a conscious effort at emulation: (a) a comical dance scene between Thandie and Gerard at a party, is not similar to, but almost parodic of, the dance scene in PF; (b) The "lucky" painting that everyone's after (but that the audience conveniently never sees) evokes the suitcase with mysterious contents in PF; and (c) a scene where "One-Two" is discovered by his nemesis in the act of being tortured recalls the scene where Butch saves Marcellus from the Zed in PF. Make of it what you will.

4. Guy Ritchie must have a serious fascination with Russians, and their apparent indestructibility. There are two hardened Russians in RocknRolla who are sent out after "One-Two" and his gang, whose ability to withstand deadly force is similar to "Boris the Blade" in Snatch. In their first scene (one of my favorites), they compare shrapnel, gunshot, and grenade blast scars. I'd like to meet the Russians that Ritchie knows (or maybe not).

5. As everyone knows, I am like Tom Wilkinson's biggest fan, so even if RocknRolla hadn't been on my radar, I probably would have seen it just for him. Unfortunately, he doesn't do anything great with his role -- I mean, he's good as always, but he really doesn't have an iconic scene or a breathtaking soliloquy. But it was interesting to see how he performs the cockney accent, after hearing him do every other color of the English language. It's really like watching a different actor.

6. Not a great film, but it does represent a return to good filmmaking by Guy Ritchie. Fun and attention-keeping. B+