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RocknRolla (2008)

Director: Guy Ritchie

Time Out rating

Average user rating

29 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Wrong-footed by the new credit-crunch zeitgeist, but with recovered fluency after the hiccups of ‘Revolver’ and ‘Swept Away’, director Guy Ritchie’s latest returns to the caper comedy antics of unreconstructed London criminals familiar from his earlier ‘Lock, Stock…’ and ‘Snatch’.

The old smoke is changing: Tom Wilkinson’s ‘headmaster of the old-school’ villain seems a little tired, no match for the chutzpah of Gerard Butler’s drole ‘One Two’, one of the pair of the smaller-timers he employs to obtain a painting belonging to Karl Roden’s bent football-loving Russian billionaire, with whom the old gangster is co-operating on a real-estate scam. Matters are further complicated – that’s an understatement – by a plethora of criss-crossing strands involving lethally glamorous lawyer Thandie Newton, ghostly coke-head Toby Kebbell and trans-Atlantic music co-producers Ludacris and Jeremy Piven.

Despite its putatively ‘strong’ women characters, ‘RocknRolla’ is still basically ‘geezer cinema’, concocted to Ritchie’s habitual formula: gangster-land parody packed out with well-mounted action sequences, slick visuals (here courtesy of David Higgs), flashcard editing, eclectic scoring and some funny, sometimes Pinter-esque, hardman patter. Forgetting its ‘Long Good Friday’ pretensions and allowing for its air of laddish self-congratulation and its sad whiff of homophobia – admittedly, quite a big ask – Ritchie’s film is arguably his most entertaining to date. With its cheeky wit, non-PC provocations, cock-eyed class-consciousness and cheerful irreverence it could be the closest thing to Ealing comedy we’re offered these days.

Author: Wally Hammond 2008-09-02 11:11:54

Time Out London Issue 1985, 4-10 Sept

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User reviews of this film

Sutton said...

Posted on Sep 14 2008 23:31 The film has some good bits, but not as in the same league as Snatch or Lock Stock.... Toby Kebbell was entertaining and Ms Newton stunning! A few too many cliches, but an ok film...I'd save your cash and watch it on dvd. Roll on some decent movies this Autumn..here's hoping the Coen Brothers deliver again after a poor Summer for films (and weather!).

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Herts said...

Posted on Sep 13 2008 20:57 Excellent watch. Went along not expecting too much but we really enjoyed it and was completely engrossed throughout. Great humour, laughted lots and could watch again. Well done Mr Ritchie.

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xxxxlxxxx said...

Posted on Sep 11 2008 23:26 TOM HARDY IS SOOOOOOOO SEXY!!
HE SHOULD BE THE STAR - GERARD IS ALRIGHT BUT OMG!! TOM, mmmm, yesss please!!

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Jim H said...

Posted on Sep 11 2008 18:29 We went to see it last night and found it a real hoot - very enjoyable couple of hours. The whole cinema was, by the sound of it, also very engaged with it. It's no Usual Suspects but good entertainment

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dannielle said...

Posted on Sep 09 2008 16:57 was absolutly BORING!! people i was with had to be woken up at the end of it.... dull and not a very good story line!

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ant said...

Posted on Sep 08 2008 19:07 uzman, ask should not be task, it should be ask as in 'quite a big ask to make a more entertaining movie than 'snatch'
Going to see the film tonight, never been one to listen to ratings as some people just don't get some films

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Billy London said...

Posted on Sep 08 2008 00:05 Well, well, what a disappointment, actually a rather embarrassing pile of mockney shite. Cmon Richie who do you think you're kidding pal? No wonder Madonna didn't want to rock-up to the opening night, this really is a joke and sadly I think Mr R has last the plot. Go see if you are a tourist or an impressionable 15 yr old wanting to puff your chest out wannabe-gangsta style, if not stay well away its cringeable.

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sam said...

Posted on Sep 07 2008 12:33 this film was class in my opinion great actors and a good story some funny scenes and some good action to

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Sep 06 2008 12:41 i fail to comprehend why people will say the reviewer is terrible when he is only giving a personal perspective of a movie -WALLY gave more reasons then others at to why he thinks this to be an average movie and i did not expect anything else from guy ritchie as he is one man who is pretentiously over-rated in showbiz -there were some typing errors in the review like task was spelt as ask -but wally exrercised his opinion quite well -any way i am going to give this a miss ,rather watch the bourne again on dvd

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Baza said...

Posted on Sep 06 2008 08:12 This was a good movie - come on have you seen the other sh*t on at the moment. Good perfomances all round and kept my attention. Not quite a Quentin Tarrantino but a decent Brit movie. Toby Kebbell was excellent and is very believable as a nutter cum gangster. Just because you dont get a peek at Thandie Newtons baps does not meen the movie is a duf. All in all good money spent - looking forward to the sequel...

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Perfect Day said...

Posted on Sep 05 2008 23:22 I promise you that a schoolboy could have written a better script than this old tosh. Where Lock Stock and Snatch had a certain frenetic kinetic energy, this comes over like a tired old donkey ready for the knackers yard.
Once out of the cinema after seeing this film, you will hardly remember a single scene. It’s patently clear that Guy Richie is a tight arse. This is a low budget film with cheap ingredients chucked in to try and give it global appeal.
3 stars? You must be 'avin a bubble, mate!
Revolver was a load of pretentious bollocks but it was still better than this crap. He doesn’t even have the balls to shoot a sex scene properly.

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PERFECT DAY said...

Posted on Sep 04 2008 15:18 Looking forward to seeing this film. I notice Wanda Jackson is on the soundtrack and cannot wait to see how Guy Richie has used her music. Full review to be posted on Monday.

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Cor Blimey Guvnor said...

Posted on Sep 04 2008 08:13 Same old tosh from posh public schoolboy turned faux cockney geezer.
Oh god, please make it stop!

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Steve Middlehurst said...

Posted on Sep 03 2008 19:18 Saw this movie in a preview and it's really, really good. A true return to form for Guy Ritchie and genuinely funny. However the review on this site is simply not accurate. OneTwo is not employed to obtain the painting, Thandie Newton's character is an accountant (her husband is the lawyer) and the 'homophobia' is played for laughs in a world that's all about being 'tough'. So great movie, terrible review (sorry Wally).

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