The Gentlemen (2020)

Movie · 2020 · Comedy, Crime, Action · 1h 53m · R · English

Curator score: 5.5/10 (1.1M ratings)

Criminal. Class.

Overview

American expat Mickey Pearson has built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.

Ratings

Director

Guy Ritchie

Production

Miramax, Toff Guy Films, Coach Films

Cast

Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Lyne Renee, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Tom Wu, Chidi Ajufo, Hugh Grant, Simon Barker, Eddie Marsan, Jason Wong, John Dagleish, Jordan Long, Lily Frazer, Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, Samuel West, Geraldine Somerville, Eliot Sumner

Where to watch

Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads

Curator Review

Verdict

A slick, fast-talking crime caper with Guy Ritchie’s trademark swagger, sharp ensemble banter, and a knowingly ridiculous sense of escalation. It’s especially fun if you like stylish criminal underworld stories that lean into personality, plotting, and performance as much as action.

Best for

  • fans of glossy crime comedies
  • viewers who enjoy ensemble banter and double-crosses
  • people who like stylish, kinetic filmmaking
  • audiences open to broad, self-aware masculinity and tabloid energy

Skip if

  • you want grounded realism
  • you dislike macho posturing and snappy, hyper-stylized dialogue
  • you’re sensitive to casual misogyny or ugly criminal-world behavior
  • you prefer character depth over plot machinery and attitude

Overview

The Gentlemen is a polished return to form for Guy Ritchie, built around a dense web of hustles, betrayals, and verbal sparring. It moves like a con game: everyone is performing, everyone has leverage, and the movie enjoys the pleasure of watching its own machinery click into place.

Worth noting

The cast is a big part of the appeal. Matthew McConaughey gives the film a relaxed center, Charlie Hunnam plays the loyal fixer with dry understatement, and Hugh Grant steals scenes with a sly, slippery energy that turns the whole thing into a game of shifting alliances. The movie is at its best when it lets those personalities collide.

Bottom line

That said, it’s also very much a Guy Ritchie movie in the familiar sense: flashy, self-satisfied, and sometimes more interested in style than emotional consequence. If you’re in the mood for a glossy criminal farce with swagger to spare, it delivers; if you want something more humane or less bro-y, the film’s rough edges will stand out.

Top Letterboxd reviews

demi adejuyigbe · 8514 likes

GUY RITCHIE: hey man, i made that pizza you wanted ME: ah righteous, thank y– GUY: a bup bup bup– before you eat it, i should apologize ME: what? why, your pizzas are always pretty good GUY: yeah well i was worried the recipe was getting a little stale ME: yeah GUY: so i tried to mix it up a bunch ME: yeah GUY: and i got a liiiiittle self-indulgent ME: yeah GUY: then i threw in a little playful… more GUY RITCHIE: hey man, i made that pizza you wanted ME: ah righteous, thank y– GUY: a bup bup bup– before you eat it, i should apologize ME: what? why, your pizzas are always pretty good GUY: yeah well i was worried the recipe was getting a little stale ME: yeah GUY: so i tried to mix it up a bunch ME: yeah GUY: and i got a liiiiittle self-indulgent ME: yeah GUY: then i threw in a little playful… more

Jim Caddick (4.5★) · 6202 likes

Hugh Grant was in Paddington 2 and now he says ‘cunt’ 200 times

karen h. · 4703 likes

hugh grant and charlie hunnam should have kissed

🌻 lindsay 🌻 (1★) · 2903 likes

you’re really only going to have one woman in your movie and her only purpose is to be threatened with sexual assault so that the main male character can angst over that? and we never see her deal with what happened because she is not a person to this movie, she is a tool that can be used against mickey. we see HIM deal with her trauma but we never see her again because she doesn’t matter to this story and i am so fucking sick of seeing this happen in movies constantly. I honestly didn’t enjoy watching any of this it made me really angry.

maria (3.5★) · 2316 likes

guy ritchie jerking off and smelling his cum for almost two hours. loved it!

Recommended similar titles

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

1998 · Comedy, Crime · 1h 45m · R · Curator 7.9/10 (933.8K ratings)

A foundational British crime caper with overlapping schemes, sharp comic timing, and the same love of hustlers talking themselves into trouble.

Snatch

2000 · Crime, Comedy · 1h 43m · R · Curator 7.3/10 (1.7M ratings)

If you want the most recognizable predecessor to this movie’s rhythm, tone, and ensemble chaos, this is the obvious companion piece.

Layer Cake

2004 · Drama, Thriller, Crime · 1h 45m · R · Curator 8.6/10 (2.4K ratings)

A cooler, more controlled British crime film about ambition, criminal hierarchy, and the cost of trying to get out clean.

In Bruges

2008 · Comedy, Drama, Crime · 1h 48m · R · Curator 8.2/10 (1.1M ratings)

Shares the dark humor, criminal banter, and pleasure in characters who are both funny and morally compromised.

The Nice Guys

2016 · Comedy, Crime, Action · 1h 56m · R · Curator 6.9/10 (1.5M ratings)

A buddy-crime comedy with fast dialogue, escalating absurdity, and a playful sense of corruption and incompetence.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

2005 · Comedy, Crime, Mystery · 1h 43m · R · Curator 6.8/10 (253K ratings)

For viewers who like crime stories that run on wit, self-awareness, and a constant sense that everyone is lying.

Sexy Beast

2001 · Crime, Thriller, Drama · 1h 29m · R · Curator 8.0/10 (213.2K ratings)

A stylish, nasty crime film with strong personalities, menace under the surface, and a memorable criminal-world power dynamic.

The Bank Job

2008 · Thriller, Crime, Drama · 1h 52m · R · Curator 3.8/10 (244.5K ratings)

A London-set criminal caper that balances plotting, momentum, and a sense of grubby opportunism.

The Italian Job

2003 · Action, Crime · 1h 50m · PG-13 · Curator 3.6/10 (591.3K ratings) · Where to watch: Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Starz, Philo, History Vault

A glossy, crowd-pleasing heist movie with teamwork, betrayal, and a sleek commercial sheen.

Ocean's Eleven

2001 · Thriller, Crime · 1h 56m · PG-13 · Curator 7.6/10 (1.9M ratings) · In theaters

For the pleasure of watching a charismatic ensemble outmaneuver one another with style and confidence.

The Departed

2006 · Drama, Thriller, Crime · 2h 31m · R · Curator 9.5/10 (3M ratings) · Where to watch: MGM Plus

A more violent, more tragic version of the same fascination with infiltration, double lives, and unstable loyalties.

War Dogs

2016 · Comedy, Crime, Drama · 1h 54m · R · Curator 4.2/10 (812.8K ratings)

Another slick crime-adjacent story about opportunists improvising their way through a lucrative, morally rotten business.

Topics

crime comedy, ensemble cast, British underworld, stylized direction, fast dialogue, neo-noir, antihero, caper, swagger, dark humor

Open The Gentlemen (2020) on Curator TV