Sandy Kenyon reviews 'The Gentlemen,' a star-studded action comedy

Saturday, January 25, 2020
Sandy Kenyon reviews star-studded action comedy 'The Gentlemen'
Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Michelle Dockery, Henry Golding, and Colin Farrell star in Guy Ritchie's new film "The Gentlemen"

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The new movie "The Gentlemen" opens this weekend but is it worth a trip to the movie theater?

The film is a bit of a brain teaser, and one reviewer complained he didn't understand what was going on for the first half-hour.

The plot of "The Gentlemen" is beside the point. The movie is worth seeing for the big stars working hard so we can be entertained.

The men depicted in "The Gentlemen" are so in name only, and their characters make the movie more fun watch.

Matthew McConaughey plays an American marijuana farmer named Mickey, who's made a fortune turning on folks in Great Britain -- but now hopes to sell the business.

A sleazy private investigator played by Hugh Grant narrates Mickey's story.

Grant's character's ulterior motive is to extort money from a crime boss by explaining to Mickey's head of security the benefits of such an arrangement.

"It has been a great relief and quite cathartic in recent years to be more revolting," Grant joked in regards to history of playing romantic leads.

Michelle Dockery plays Mickey's wife and is best described as a "Cockney Cleopatra." Her character runs an auto body shop, and the role could not be more different from the lady she played on "Downton Abbey."

The actress explained that one of the reasons she agreed to play the part was that, "I welcomed the chance to do something quite different."

Henry Golding, also best known as a romantic leading man, shows a darker side as a young crook looking to expand his territory.

It's a return to familiar ground for director Guy Ritchie, who first made a name for himself with "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels."

He got sidetracked due to his marriage and divorce from Madonna, but "The Gentlemen" reminded me how much fun his films can be.

Colin Farrell has a small part in the movie, and watching him was a lot of fun.

The kinetic energy of "The Gentlemen" was just what I needed after a hard week at work. The picture acted as a tonic to revive me and get me ready to enjoy a weekend's worth of good times!

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