Why So Blu?

The Gentlemen (4K Blu-ray Review)

Guy Ritchie has returned to form.  For us that means a crime caper! The Gentlemen is just that.  Foul language, violence, ridiculous amounts of money and a lot of twists to keep you guessing.  Just what we’ve been waiting for through some not so great experiments.  Read on about Ritchie, his film and the tech specs below! The Gentlemen is available on April 21^st, so feel free to click the paid link at the bottom to order a copy!

 

 

Film 

Director Guy Ritchie has made some questionable choices as a filmmaker lately.  We as moviegoers understand the need to branch out from the norm. In an artistic way, creators should absolutely be able to spread their wings and create something different from their typical creations.  With all that being said though, there is no doubt that there are some artists who should follow the motto of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…” For me, Ritchie fits into that category to a T.  His films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch are iconic pieces of British crime cinema.  They’re razor sharp, fast, funny and give us a glimpse at the underbelly of Jolly Old England.  People are foul, awkward and their mishaps are often unforgettably funny.  In the years since Snatch, we saw RockNRolla (which saw Ritchie’s formula going dry) and two Sherlock Holmes films (the less said about them, the better…). The icing on the cake though was a very odd take on King Arthur. I personally got a kick out of it but could see why it got ripped apart by critics and audiences. It’s a slippery slope to recreate a classic story with modern influences and this was one time where it just didn’t work so well.

The best part about The Gentlemen is that you’re not reminded of those “in-between” Ritchie films at all.  Watching this one, you’re taken back to the land of Snatch where gangsters and shady dealings rule the day.  The main difference is that these baddies have more money and seem just a little classier.  Their double crosses are bigger and bolder too. Those are great things as they up the ante for the film overall.

Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) is an American expat who came to the UK to study at Cambridge. According to a flashback, his family has always been into weed, and he takes his knowledge to capitalize on a grow operation across the pond.  He becomes the high standard for the cannabis business in England through some take charge maneuvers early on.  Years later he has become the end all, be all for Cannabis in England and is looking to retire.  He wants to go legit as they say. He has been putting himself in more legitimate circles lately and making friends in a different hemisphere. He is approached by Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong) another American and a billionaire, who is willing to pay nearly half a billion dollars for the business. Mickey also has an assistant, Raymond (Charlie Hunnam) who helps him enforce best business practices and takes no mess from anyone.  Mickey’s wife Rosalind (Michelle Dockery) is the one person in his life who he will do anything for and is a tough one herself.

Berger has other thoughts up his sleeve.  He’d like to pay less, and has put a guy named Dry Eye (Henry Golding) in charge of infiltrating one of the grow locations to make it look like a theft and get the business for about half of what he initially offered Mickey.  Coach (Colin Farrell) and his gang of boxing class misfits are who Dry Eye calls on to hustle the plants away from one of Mickey’s farms, but while successful, something about the robbery feels amiss…

With all this going on, there is also Big Dave (Eddie Marsan), who is a sleazy tabloid editor who was snubbed by Mickey and wants very much to drag his good name through the mud.  He’s dispatched Fletcher (Hugh Grant) to follow Mickey and his associates around to find dirt.  He asks for 150,000 Pounds in return.  In a sneakier plan, Fletcher sneaks into Richard’s country home to tell him of all his findings by way of a movie pitch and to try and bribe 20 million pounds from Mickey! Double crossings, shady dealings, and bad choices abound!

This is what makes the film so much fun.  There is a lot going on, and as an audience, you work to put all the pieces together as more situations come forward as we’re putting the puzzle together. The situations and characters come fast and there is at least one plot point placed in the film for no other reason but to show that you needn’t mess with Richard, or he will make you regret it.  That though is a small complaint in a film such as this.  This one end to end is a lot of fun. The many actors assembled here seem to be having a blast, with Charlie Hunnam and Hugh Grant seeming to have the most fun of all. In fact, Grant gives a fascinating speech about the filmmaking process from the type of film he’d use, to film grain, and the like – He totally delighted me with his passionate recalling of classic filmmaking. Colin Farrell contributes a very compellingly odd character in Coach, who means well, but is also a thug at heart.  Michelle Dockery is also radiant as a take no crap badass woman.  Who doesn’t love a character like that?

Do I think you should see The Gentlemen? I think personally that it’s the finest Guy Ritchie film that has come out in at least ten years, if not more.  There is genuine heart put into the film and the cast is first rate.  The style, the criminal-yet-sophisticate storyline and the lovely set design are all in place too.  This is a first-rate film overall, and one that stands out among the sequels, remakes, and dull originals we’ve been seeing lately.  Most certainly this one is worth a look!

Video 

• Encoding: HEVC/H.265
• Resolution: 4K
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• HDR: HDR10+
• Layers: BD-66
• Clarity/Detail: Struck from a 4K DI, The Gentlemen looks incredible on disc. The film has many textured locations, from Richard’s modern farm home, to the grow farms on royal land that are absolutely gorgeous.  There are no sets or locations that look unnatural or odd. There is something truly lifelike about the presentation.  You can see all the clothing textures, hair in various textures as well and when it’s on screen some lively blood splatter too.
• Depth: You’re not going to say this is 3-D pop territory, but depth is appreciable in all interior scenes. There are lots of moments where you can take in the set design and pick up on all the little details, whether you’re in Rosalind’s auto shop, Dry Eye’s uncle’s hideout, or in Big Dave’s London office, you’ll pick up pieces of their personalities from what you see in their surroundings.
• Black Levels: Blacks are recreated just as they should be – Deep and BLACK. You won’t think anything is awash or too bright to be black.
• Color Reproduction: As with many a film set in England, this one is on the bluish grey side, but beautiful. Blues and greys are the color stars here, but wood tones inside and brick buildings and glass structures also look lovely.  There are occasional moments of color pop, such as seeing Rosalind’s tricked out BMW or those off the wall sweat suits that Coach wears, and those are pleasing to the eye too.  I also have to note one moment of HDR blinding brightness when there is an explosion… Wow… Made me squint and everything!
• Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are natural. Skin tone is as it should be with detail coming out in facial features and textures.
• Noise/Artifacts: Digital grain is on display but not in a distracting way.

Audio 

• Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Dynamics: The mix for The Gentlemen is dynamic in bombastic range and in dialogue clarity. The surrounds are used as most mixes use them, while height channels leave a little bit to be desired.  Score and soundtrack cues deliver the most heft. This isn’t a showcase mix, but it does the trick!
• Height: Height channels aren’t a superstar here. I didn’t notice too many discrete effects from above, but to be honest I didn’t expect much.  Music, and some ambient noise shows up on top, but that’s about it.
• Low Frequency Extension: The low end shows up for music, some gunfire and explosions. Other than that, the subwoofer is used in a way that is more on the subtle side.
• Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds are used in a typical way. The ambient noises of parties, country estates, cityscapes and auto shops all make their presence known in those channels and create a quite organic sound field within those channels.
• Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is the consistent item in this mix. You will never strain to hear dialogue, but may need a rewind if you’re not well versed in the many facets of English accents from various regions.

Extras 

The Gentleman arrives at home in an embossed slipcover with an accompanying digital code and DVD. Extras are to say the least slim, and are:

• Best Gentlemanly Quips (4K, 3:09) – A 3-minute mashup of insults from the film
• Glossary of Cannibis (4K, :46) – You read it right – 46 seconds devoted to all the terms for weed in the film, and if you partake, you already picked up on them without this feature.
• Behind The Scenes (4K, 1:36) – I thought I’d never see such a scant bit about behind the scenes, but here it is… Incoherent, and over before it even begins.
• Photo Gallery (5:10) – Photos from filming presented as a slideshow, but you can also skip ahead.

Summary 

The Gentlemen does a great job putting itself back into the crime story world of Guy Ritchie.  This is where he is at his best.  This new entry is a lot of fun, with twists, turns, laughs and a first-rate cast.  I had a lot of fun with this film and I see myself revisiting it along with Snatch or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. If you’re a fan of Ritchie’s work, you’ll certainly love it. If you’re new to his movies, this is a great entry way into his catalog.

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