The Gentlemen

From writer-director Guy Ritchie comes THE GENTLEMEN, a star-studded, sophisticated action comedy. The story follows American expat Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), who has built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business, a host of colorful, if entirely illegitimate figures scheme, bribe and blackmail their way to try and steal Mickey’s domain out from under him.
THE GENTLEMEN also stars Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, with Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant – all under the direction of master filmmaker Guy Ritchie, who returns to the genre and type of characters to which he gave an indelible and unique flavor in films such as Sherlock Holmes, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch.
According to Matthew McConaughey, a Guy Ritchie movie is made up of “language, punch, humor, sleight of hand, chin up, and double-dare-ya. Every character in Guy’s movies has a specific and unforgettable identity; you want to be with them when you’re with them. Nobody is boring.”
“No one has captured that gangster tone like Guy, who really understands charm and character,” adds producer Ivan Atkinson, who also co-wrote the story with Ritchie and Marn Davies. “You never forget Guy’s characters in those films, and it’s great to experience that mix of action, comedy, and fun.”
“Guy wanted to venture back to his roots for this project, and the cast he pulled together was phenomenal,” says producer Bill Block. I look at it as somewhat of a
tribute to his past, with relevant themes and similar characters having evolved over the last two decades.”
Ritchie came up with the idea for the film almost a decade ago. After he and Atkinson considered turning the project into a television series, Ritchie decided to return to his original conception of THE GENTLEMEN as a big motion picture. He explains the film’s origins as a work entitled Toff Guys – a reference to the British slang for someone from an aristocratic background, and who exudes an air of superiority – and what drew him to its ideas and themes. “It all spoke to my interest in exploring the meeting of disparate polarities in the English and American class systems. The characters have reached an age where they are magnetically drawn to the finer things in life and have become gentrified in their rather ungentrified business. They are, at their core, hard- boiled and have worked their way up the urban ladder. Now, they’re caught between two worlds, one of which is aspirational. And the things they enjoy are now out of sync with the business they’re in.”
The title THE GENTLEMEN points to their aspirations, but as Ritchie admits, “There aren’t a lot of gentlemen in this equation.”