RocknRolla (2008)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Guy Ritchie

Writer:

Guy Ritchie (written by)

Release Date:

31 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

A story of sex, thugs and rock 'n roll.

Plot:

In London, a real-estate scam puts millions of pounds up for grabs, attracting some of the city's scrappiest tough guys and its more established underworld types, all of whom are looking to get rich quick. While the city's seasoned criminals vie for the cash, an unexpected player -- a drugged out rock 'n' roller presumed to be dead but very much alive -- has a multi-million dollar prize fall into his hands.

Plot Keywords:

Accountant | Painting | Robbery | Nightclub | Male Rear Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14	9:30 PM	HBO
Wed. Nov. 18	11:30 PM	HBO

Cast

Gerard Butler	...	One Two
Tom Wilkinson	...	Lenny Cole
Thandie Newton	...	Stella
Mark Strong	...	Archy
Idris Elba	...	Mumbles
Tom Hardy	...	Handsome Bob
Karel Roden	...	Uri Omovich
Toby Kebbell	...	Johnny Quid
Jeremy Piven	...	Roman
Ludacris	...	Mickey (as Chris Bridges)
Jimi Mistry	...	Councillor
Matt King	...	Cookie
Geoff Bell	...	Fred the Head
Dragan Micanovic	...	Victor
Michael Ryan	...	Pete

Also Known As:

Рок-н-рольщик (Russia) [ru]
Rock et escrocs (Canada: French title) [fr]
Rock'n'Rolla - A Grande Roubada (Brazil) [pt]
RocknRolla (Croatia) [hr]
RocknRolla (Argentina) [es]
RocknRolla (Greece) [el]
RocknRolla - A Quadrilha (Portugal) [pt]
Spíler (Hungary) [hu]

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, violence, drug use and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44080) | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16 | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Finland:K-15 | Norway:15 | Brazil:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:16 | France:U | Argentina:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Sweden:15 | Peru:14 | South Korea:18 | Iceland:16 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Barbican, London, England, UK

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The band playing in the club scene are The Subways with their song 'Rock & Roll Queen'.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The two "Chechnyans" would more likely be veterans of the Russian Army who've served in Chechnya. This is because actual Chechens would speak the Chechen language rather than Russian.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Archie: People ask the question... what's a RocknRolla? And I tell 'em - it's not about drums, drugs, and hospital drips, oh no. There's more there than that, my friend. We all like a bit of the good life - some the money, some the drugs, other the sex game, the glamour, or the fame. But a RocknRolla, oh, he's different. Why? Because a real RocknRolla wants the fucking lot.

Movie Connections:

References The Wild Bunch (1969)

Soundtrack:

Do The Pop

Yeah, we've seen it all before, but...

I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Guy Ritchie's mockney gangster films. I don't know what it is. I know that they're not very profound and have nothing to say, I know that they're a pure fantasy vision of British crime and I know that if you've seen Lock Stock, you've pretty much seen them all. And yet, as Ritchie returns for a third iteration of the only formula with which he's tasted success , I still find myself walking out of the cinema massively entertained.

RocknRolla does absolutely nothing new. A quick list of things it shares with Lock Stock and Snatch would read thus: fast paced, witty dialogue; complex, interwoven plot threads; central McGuffin driving the mayhem (#1 antique shotguns, #2 huge diamond, #3 a lucky painting); smart, rapid editing; a mountain of Cockney crime stereotypes. Even things such as hard-as-nails Russian henchmen return. It completes the upward curve of scale in Ritchie's crime films: from a rigged card game to a rigged boxing circuit to rigged property development. The crime lords get larger in stature, the sums of money owed have more zeros on the end and the capers required to resolve the situation more grand, but it's still the same concept.

You'd think this was a list of criticisms, and if you found Snatch wearingly familiar you shouldn't need it spelling out that this film won't impress you. Looking for originality? Look elsewhere. RocknRolla may be pushing the formula a little bit, but if you accept that it's still enormous fun. Ritchie's directing is as proficient as ever, it moves at a merry old pace and the plot just about stays on the rails. The characters are endearing and there's plenty of laughs to be had. Other than its dearth of invention, the only real flaw with the film lies in the opening fifteen minutes, where Ritchie sets up the plot strands which will then unravel. Whereas previous films did this in a smooth, unforced way, here Ritchie lathers it with a liberal helping of voice-over narration so there's absolutely no confusion possible as to who is who and what they're after, which on many occasions extends to pointing out the bleeding obvious. Show don't tell- it's the first rule in the book Ritchie! It may be getting to the point where RocknRolla must go down as a guilty pleasure, but guilty pleasures are often the most fulfilling kind. And so it is here.