Movie : RocknRolla

Movie Info :

Title : RocknRolla
Release Date: October 8, 2008 (NY/LA/Toronto), Expands on October 31, 2008
Genres: Crime Action Drama
Starring : Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Idris Elba, Chris Bridges, Jeremy Piven, Gemma Arterton.
Director: Guy Ritchie
Screenplay By: Guy Ritchie
Producers: Joel Silver, Guy Ritchie, Susan Downey, and Steve Clark-Hall
Executive Producers: Steve Richards and Navid McIlhargey
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, violence, drug use and brief sexuality
Running Time: 1 hr. 57 min.
Official website : http://rocknrolla.warnerbros.com/



Synopsis :

RocknRolla takes a dangerous ride into high crime and low life in contemporary London, where real estate has supplanted drugs as the biggest market, and criminals are its most enthusiastic entrepreneurs. But for anyone looking to get in—from small-time crook One Two (Gerard Butler) to shady Russian billionaire Uri Obomavich (Karel Roden)—there's only one man to see: Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson).

A mobster from the old school, Lenny knows the right wheels to grease and has his hand on the throat of any bureaucrat, broker or gangster that matters. With one phone call, Lenny can make the red tape disappear. But as Lenny's right-hand man Archy (Mark Strong) tells him, London is ground zero for the changing times, with bigtime mobsters from the East, hungry criminals from the streets, and everyone inbetween, all vying to change the rules of commerce and crime.

With millions up for grabs, all of London's criminal underworld conspires, colludes and collides with one another in an effort to take their cut. But as high rollers and petty criminals alike jockey for dominance, the true prize of one multi-million-dollar deal will fall into the hands of a junkie rock star (Toby Kebbell)—Lenny's stepson, presumed dead but very much alive.



Movie Review:

Guy Ritchie has done it again. RocknRolla is yet another Ritchie classic like we've seen twice before with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998 and Snatch in 2000. It may not exactly top either of those two in content, but it's certainly the best British gangster film in the last eight years, which says a lot. Plus it doesn't hurt to add another great film to the Ritchie library, especially one with such a genuinely entertaining line-up of actors. In short, RocknRolla boasts that same brilliant visual style that Ritchie is known for, as well as a deceitful story as sharp as the one from Snatch. Whether you end up liking the story or not, there's no denying that Ritchie is a talented filmmaker capable of pure entertainment.

Focusing on two smalltime crooks named One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba), RocknRolla delves into the British underworld like we've seen before in Ritchie's films, but this time it's a big-time businessman named Lenny (Tom Wilkinson), who thinks he runs London, that becomes the ball in this nasty Rugby match. Before long, Russian billionaire Uri (Karel Roden) loans Lenny his lucky painting, it ends up stolen by the supposedly dead rockstar Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell), and the entire allotment of London's gangsters and crooks get wrapped up in a complex game of cat-and-mouse in the search for the painting. It's not the smoothest plot in Ritchie's history, but in the end it pulls itself together.

To call RocknRolla a British version of The Godfather wouldn't be inaccurate, although I'm not going to reveal all of what makes the two so similar. Guy Ritchie movies are almost an acquired taste - with so much style, it's hard to find the substance unless you know where to look. But all that I love about Ritchie's films shined through in RocknRolla. When Lenny says that it costs an arm and a leg, in a Guy Ritchie movie, he literally means an arm and a leg, with bloody ruthlessness and all. That kind of sharp-witted humor and brutal realism fills up RocknRolla to the gills, but just sitting back and enjoying Ritchie's cinematic style will help you overcome the rough spots in the complex story.

I won't necessarily say that RocknRolla is any better than Snatch, which still remains my all-time favorite Ritchie film, but there were numerous moments of genius in RocknRolla that rivaled it. Like a cross-country road trip with your friends, there are scenes that are slow and tedious, and others that are so energetic and vibrant, that it creates a dynamic that Ritchie fans will hopefully find as entertaining as I did. As with Snatch as well, the climax near the end needs to be unforgettable, and in RocknRolla it certainly is – you'll never look at Russian thugs and Gerard Butler the same again - and you won't soon forget it. This film isn't out to win an Oscar, but it is still stylistic cinematic entertainment at its best.

Toronto Rating: 9 out of 10



Taken From : http://www.firstshowing.net







RocknRolla - Official TRAILER (HD)