Guy must have had his mind on the divorce during this one (Rocknrolla (DVD))

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	Rocknrolla (DVD)
Date:	16/03/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: entertaining mini-stories

Disadvantages: lacks cohesion

WHAT IS IT ABOUT:
The darky under-side of London is explored in Guy Ritchie's latest outing that sees a dodgy multi-million pound real estate deal risk falling apart because of a prized painting that falls into the hands of a drug addict rock star who's supposed to be dead.

IS IT ANY GOOD:
Guy Ritchie has proven himself to be a bit hit or miss when it comes to making Tarrantino-esque multi-narrative gangster films; at his best, Snatch is a phenomenal work, whereas Lock Stock falls short, and now Rocknrolla adds to the list of failures.

There are two main problems with this film. First up, the disjointed plot: it's a big risk making a multi-narrative film. It has to be brilliant and clever, because you're asking the audience to work extra hard by breaking one of cinema's most basic rules, and it has to have a pay-off for the viewer. In films like Pulp Fiction, it pays off beautifully, but the same cannot be said for this one. Each small story in itself has some entertaining merit, yet the supposed convergance of the whole lot is less than inspirational. Lesson number one, then, is don't make things more complex than you need to, Mr Ritchie.

Secondly, the casting is a problem. Unlike Snatch, brilliantly spear-headed by an out of this world Brad Pitt, there is no real known star leading this film, and it suffers because of it. Because no-one is obviously the star, it lacks presence, feeling like a series of B movies strung together. Casting an old British stalwart like Tom Wilkinson as a top gangster is also too hard to swallow.

The film does have some merits - the dialogue is as entertaining and authentic as ever, and each mini story is entertaining in itself, but overall it lacks the cohesion and star power of its predecessor, and falls mightily short of Tarrantino gold standard it clearly aspires to.

Summary: ignore it