Page 30 - AT

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 2 March 2020
Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentlemen’ is

stale pint of ale

By JAKE COYLE crime thriller that preaches in elaborate fashion, fram-
Associated Press a retrograde masculinity ing the story he’s asking
Guy Ritchie’s honor- with the mumbo jumbo to $20 million not to tell as a
among-thieves meta-ca- go with it. movie script titled “Bush.”
per “The Gentlemen,” with For Ritchie, “The Gentle- (He thinks it should be in
Matthew McConaughey, men” is a return to the 35mm and be like Francis
has all the tailored tweed scene of the crime. The Brit- Ford Coppola’s “The Con-
suits and smoky atmo- ish director first burst on the versation” but less boring.)
sphere of a handsome scene two decades ago Raymond mostly listens pa-
This image released by STXfilms shows, from left, Henry Golding, scotch commercial. “The with showily stylistic Cock- tiently — he grills Fletcher
Matthew McConaughey and Charlie Hunnam in a scene from Gentlemen” might not be ney crime movies (“Lock, a steak and abides his oc-
"The Gentlemen." an ad, but Ritchie’s film Stock and Two Smoking casional leering — while
Associated Press is most assuredly selling Barrels,” “Snatch”) before Fletcher describes how
something. transitioning into larger Mickey attempted to sell
It’s selling a vision in which and glossier studio projects. his marijuana farm empire
“real men” handle their He made a pair of “Sher- for $400 million but sudden-
business with a touch of lock Holmes” pictures that ly ran into countless head-
class. There are those who glumly swapped the de- aches. His would-be buyer
get it (handsome, hetero- tective’s brains for brawn, is a wealthy Jewish man
sexual white men) and and last year’s live-action played by Jeremy Strong
those who don’t (over- “Aladdin.” of “Succession,” and the
ambitious minorities, pred- “The Gentlemen” brings biggest tell that he’s some-
atory gay men). In “The Ritchie back into his ele- how behind the trouble is
Gentlemen,” any criminal ment, for better and worse, his character’s fey man-
aspirant lacking the proper along with an all-star cast ner, which in the world of
panache is set straight, un- including Charlie Hunnam, “The Gentlemen” signals
til the underworld empire of Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell, his duplicity. There is also an
crime boss Mickey Pearson Jeremy Strong and Henry up-and-coming Chinese
(McConaughey) has been Golding. From the start, gangster Dry Eye (Golding),
sufficiently protected. there’s plenty of winking. and you can guess that he
“If you wish to be the Mickey walks into a pub turns out to be the bad
king of the jungle, it’s not where a bartender draws sort of criminal unworthy
enough to act like the king. a pint of the director’s own of Mickey’s stature. It’s not
You must be the king,” Mc- microbrew, Gritchie’s Eng- that Ritchie’s film doesn’t
Conaughey’s gangster in- lish Lore. The scene ends have some zip. The many-
tones in the film’s opening. with mysterious bloodshed. layered narrative, once it
It’s a musing that would After the credits, it shifts to a comes alive after lengthy
fit right into one of McCo- tale being told by a black- exposition, is smartly plot-
naughey’s Lincoln adverts mailing tabloid journalist ted. And several of the ac-
but it reflects the overarch- named Fletcher (Grant) to tors are good, especially
ing, chest-thumping ethos Mickey’s consiglieri, Ray- Farrell as a protective box-
of “The Gentlemen,” a mond (Hunnam). ing trainer whose kids inad-
well-heeled, star-packed He relates his shakedown vertently get involved.q

Hilary Duff seeks new ‘Lizzie McGuire’

TV home on Hulu

By LYNN ELBER and my passion remains,”
Associated Press Duff said in her post Friday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hilary “However, I feel a huge
Duff is asking Disney to find responsibility to honor the
a TV home that’s more ap- fans’ relationship with Lizzie
propriate to the grown-up who, like me, grew up see-
“Lizzie McGuire.” ing themselves in her. I’d
In an Instagram post, the be doing a disservice to
actress who’s reprising the everyone by limiting the
title character for Disney realities of a 30-year-old’s
Plus, said the streaming journey to live under the
service isn’t the best fit, ceiling of a PG rating.”
suggesting Hulu instead. The original series was an In this Aug. 23, 2019, file
The original series, about a authentic portrayal of photo, Hilary Duff attends the
Disney+ press line at the 2019
girl whose thoughts are ex- Lizzie as a preteen and D23 Expo in Anaheim, Calif.
pressed by her animated teenager, Duff said, and Associated Press
doppelganger, aired from her next chapters should
2001 to 2004 on the Disney be “as real and relatable.” runner and original series
Channel. Production on the reboot creator Terri Minsky, trade
“Was incredibly excited was suspended in Janu- publication Variety has
to launch ‘Lizzie’ on D+ ary after the exit of show- reported.q