The Gentlemen (2024) Review: Ritchie's Stately Caper

Is The Gentlemen worth watching?

Yes. The Gentlemen is Guy Ritchie in his most comfortable register, a fast, stylish and often very funny crime caper that works better as a series than the film that inspired it. Theo James makes an unexpectedly sharp leading man, and the clash between old aristocracy and new criminal money gives the show a satisfying comic engine. The reservation is that Ritchie’s familiar tricks are more reliable than surprising, and the story rarely goes deeper than its glossy surface.

What is The Gentlemen about?

Eddie Horniman (James) is a soldier who unexpectedly inherits his father’s title and country estate, to the dismay of his reckless older brother, Freddy (Daniel Ings). He quickly discovers that the family seat sits on top of a vast cannabis operation, and that the people running it have no intention of leaving. Chief among them is Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario), a formidable businesswoman who keeps the enterprise running with ruthless efficiency. As Eddie tries to protect his family and his inheritance, he finds himself pulled into a criminal world that plays by rules his upbringing did not prepare him for.

The Gentlemen is a British series in English, created by Guy Ritchie for Netflix as a spin-off from his 2019 film of the same name, set in the same criminal world with a new set of characters. Joely Richardson, Vinnie Jones and Giancarlo Esposito round out the cast. This review covers the two seasons and 16 episodes released so far; the show is ongoing.

Theo James plays straight in a crooked world

James is the show’s secret weapon. Eddie begins as the sensible one in a family of eccentrics, and James plays him with a dry, controlled calm that makes the chaos around him funnier. As Eddie discovers a talent for the criminal life, James lets a flicker of enjoyment creep into the performance, and that slow corruption is the most interesting thread in the series.

Scodelario is equally good as Susie, a woman who is always the smartest person in the room and has no interest in being charming about it. Their partnership, wary, practical and charged with tension, gives the series a relationship to invest in beyond the jokes. Daniel Ings plays Freddy as a walking disaster, and his scenes are among the funniest.

Ritchie’s formula, given room to stretch

The series has the hallmarks of Ritchie’s crime films: snappy editing, colourful villains, eccentric side characters and bursts of sudden violence played for dark laughs. The episodic structure suits that style. Each episode tends to throw Eddie into a new criminal predicament, from rival dealers to wealthy chancers, and resolve it with a mix of luck, bluff and brutality.

The class comedy is the freshest element. The show enjoys contrasting the faded grandeur of the aristocracy with the efficiency of the criminal class, and it gets plenty of mileage out of polite English manners colliding with gangland menace. The country-house settings, all gun rooms, shooting parties and crumbling halls, add a distinctive texture.

Where the swagger wears thin

For all its energy, The Gentlemen can feel like a greatest-hits collection. Some villains are more caricature than threat, and the plotting relies on coincidence and a steady supply of improbable escapes. The violence is stylised rather than weighty, which keeps the tone light but also means little seems to cost the characters much. Viewers who find Ritchie’s style self-satisfied will not be converted here.

Who should watch The Gentlemen?

It suits fans of Guy Ritchie’s films, of British crime comedy and of stylish binge-watches that do not demand too much. At eight episodes a season, it is an easy commitment. Expect strong language, drug content and frequent violence, sometimes graphic, all played with a smirk.

If it hits the spot, try these from the crime and comedy shelves:

• Rivals for another glossy, cheerfully excessive look at the English upper classes behaving badly.
• Inside No. 9 for British comedy with a much darker, stranger streak.
• More on the Netflix hub.

The verdict

The Gentlemen is a confident, highly entertaining crime comedy that gets more out of Guy Ritchie’s style than his recent films have, thanks to strong leads and a clever inheritance premise. It is familiar and lightweight, but as a slick binge it delivers.

Rating: 4/5