After hearing so many bad reviews for Guy Ritchie's latest film, you have to feel sorry for him. For as a director, this film marks a huge step forward. His visual flair and cinematic tricks, his camera-work and editing have simply exploded on to the screen showing him to be one of the most talented directors today. Like Scorsese, he doesn't just direct his actor's but employs all the techniques of the camera to produce slick, visually stunning scenes. But perhaps the problem is, unlike Scorsese, he hasn't paid his dues. Take Scorsese's breakthrough film, Mean Streets. The film is brilliant but raw and edgy, rough around the edges. It's not until many films later that he knocks us for six with Goodfellas, using every trick in the book to deliver a knockout blow to your senses. But Ritchie has tried to do this with his forth feature, and while his skill is impressive, you get the feeling it's been used on the wrong script. The story centres around the character of Jake Green. Out of prison he sets about working a con he learnt inside, a formula for gambling, pretty soon he's incurred the wrath of gangster Macha and has to resort to the protection of two mysterious figures Avi and Zach. What happens next is the reason for all the bad reviews. The film has many (apparent) red herrings. There are very simple explanations for everything, but the existence of certain scenes, characters and dialogue seem to add up to something else which may be another layer to the film or simply a decoy for those who think that they are cleverer than the really are. Ironicly enough, this seems to be one of the themes of the movie. The film repeatedly throws us proverbs, and rules of "the game" which are then repeated again and again until your not sure, what Guy Ritchie is getting at. I'm still not sure whether you're meant to ignore these things, because if you do it's actually a pretty enjoyable film, despite the lack of cockney humour (the only laughs coming from Ray Liotta in his underpants)But it's my bet that the film was written with the intention of people watching it multiple times, to a: make lots of money, and b: to become a classic like The Usual Suspects, Fight Club, and to a lesser extent 12 Monkeys. With a bit more work on the script the film could have been a hell of a lot better, but it still entertains and I would recommend it, if only because it's a wonderful looking film. It is up to you whether to hang on to every word to try to figure the plot out 100 percent, or just sit back and enjoy Ritchie's craftsmanship. It might be worth waiting for the DVD.
Review of Revolver
