Guy Ritchie was a cult phenomenon. He rocketed onto the scene with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and soon after created Snatch, which is on the top 10 list of most 20-something film fanatics. But the filmmaker’s career took a nose drive shortly after marrying Madonna (coincidence? I think not). Ritchie is back with a new gangster film starring Ray Liotta, Jason Statham, Vincent Pastore, Andre ‘Andre 3000′ Benjamin and Terence Maynard.
Revolver looks to be exactly what it promises to be, a return to form. I love the close-up gliding shots of the chess game.
Official Plot Description: Gambler and conman Jake Green (Jason Statham) always ran with a bad crowd and it cost him seven years of his life when he took the rap for mean Dorothy Macha (Ray Liotta) and wound up in jail. After his release, Jake becomes unbeatable at the tables using a formula for the ultimate con that he learned from two mysterious fellow prisoners. Now he is ready to take his revenge. Macha is plotting to eliminate his ruthless rival, Lord John, and has staked his credibility on a huge drug deal with the all-powerful Sam Gold. Jake visits Macha at his casino and humiliates him publicly in a game of chance. Macha fearing more of the same medicine sends his goons to “take care of” Jake. His life is saved by enigmatic Zach (Vincent Pastore) who, with his equally inscrutable partner Avi (André Benjamin), offers Jake protection. Against his better judgment, Jake accepts. He soon finds himself playing the very last game he wants to be playing, and there is danger at every turn. But the biggest danger of all comes from a totally unexpected source…
Don’t mistake this movie with Ritche’s RocknRolla, which is currently in production. Ritche shot Revolver in late-2004, and while the film premiered at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival, and has had a theatrical run and dvd release in other parts of the world, America has yet to see it.
Watch the trailer in High Definition on Yahoo! Movies. Revolver hits theaters on December 7th 2007.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:15 am
Meh, don’t get excited by this one folks. I’m surprised the US has got this two years late.
To sum it up, I think Ritchie at the very least attempted to do something creative and ambitious. Good for on him. The downside? He failed, big time. It’s one of those films you have to watch twice, and even when you do, it’s still as bad as it was first time around. The performances (bar from Mark Strong) are terrible, check out Jason Statham’s scene in a lift for the film’s greatest example of acting born from pure cheddar. There’s a random anime section in the middle which has no reason for being there, and on top of all that, it’s way too over cluttered with different story strands to just be entertaining.
Avoid.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:06 am
I remember seeing a trailer for this a couple years back, IIRC the movie was largely panned.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:11 am
WTF? This movie came out in Europe like two years ago! Anyway, the movie’s ok, but really, really weird (and not at all like Snatch or Lock Stock…, very different films) … like the ending, that was way weird ;-)
November 12th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Terrible film!!!
sorry to be so blunt, but it just is. I’m a fan of lock stock and snatch, even the lock stock series was good, but this film was a waste of my time and the ending was a joke (and not in a good way)
November 12th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Its appalling, one of the worst films I have ever seen theatrically. It might well be the worst king of faux art going. It cribs from all our favourite movies of the last ten years or so, even down to a few stolen lines from Fight Club and Usual Suspects and delivers almost nothing of any use. Although I agree that Mark Strong’s turn as Slaughter(?) was probably the best thing about it.
Here it even played with no end credits whatsoever, is that an artistic statement, or a lack of time in finishing the damn thing. I couldn’t be bothered to try and figure it out, I’m not sure its worth your time. Don’t bother.
November 12th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
How did this movie get such a delayed release in the US? Its been out for quite some time here in Ireland/UK and for anyone reading this please do not waste your time and money on this movie. It was definetly one of the worst movies of the last two years. So much so that even after the brilliance of Lock Stock and Snatch I still won’t pay to watch another of Guy Ritchies movies (yes it was THIS bad).
The casting was awful, the acting was awful the story was awful.
Everything was awful.
If you could ever rate a film in minus numbers out of 10 this would be -10/10.
November 12th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Wow. What went wrong with Guy Ritchie? At one time he was on pace to reach legendary status. Anyway, ray liotta’s appearence was enough to tell me this movie was gonna be bad. Think about it. Any time that dude turns up in anything nowadays its a bomb. And Statham’s hair peice is ridiculous. The trailer looks terrible and the cast is subpar.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
It’s not a great film by any means but it’s not as bad as the poeple here make it out to be. It blows compared to lock stock and snatch but it’s watchable.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:15 am
I can’t believe you;ve got this film now-its absolutly terrible
November 13th, 2007 at 6:18 am
“he’s behind every crime……ever commited”
goddammit
November 13th, 2007 at 6:19 am
That is the worst line I have ever heard in a trailer.
November 13th, 2007 at 6:31 am
I saw this movie over 2 years ago.. can’t really say I was digging it. It’s a confusing film. to which I still have yet to figure out an explanation. Maybe this is version is recut?
November 13th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
It over-reaches, but has some of the best sequences I’ve ever seen on film. The car crash scene alone will have me in the theater even though I have a dvd copy at home.
2 major flaws. Statham couldn’t carry the weight of the elevator scene. Liotta couldn’t carry the weight of the final scene. Personally, I would love it if the North American release was a re-cut with a different ending.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:02 am
It’s an OK movie, definitely not Guy Ritchie caliber, but has it’s moments. I just cant wait for RocknRolla, seems like he’s returning to his roots.
November 14th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
this movie is alright the first time you watch it, and very clever the second time. The slow mo scene in the car is amazing. Also this movie shows Statham as an actor and i have to admit he carries his part well.
I find it very bizarre that north american is getting this film so late, so very very late.
November 18th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
yeah i dont understand how im reading stories about this movie now, i saw it two years ago and it was so horribly terrible i think i broke a bunch of stuff in my room after it was over.
doesnt it say something that he hasnt made a movie since revolver (2-3 years ago)? mmhmm lets kill madonna
November 21st, 2007 at 2:56 am
I also saw this film a while ago, and quite frankly I could barely sit through it. The plot of this film might make it appear Guy is returning to familiar territory, unfortunately his attempts to break out of his trademark visionary style succeeds, leaving the audience stuck with a slow moving anti slick flick that doesn’t seem to find it’s own voice. I fear Guy Ritchie fans will come to realize the extent of Ritchie’s film making talent.
November 27th, 2007 at 10:34 am
I liked Revolver, very creative, and keeps the pace up through the whole time. Guy Ritchie is a visionary director, I liked his work on Snatch, BMW Short Movies Star and even Swept Away. It was humorous.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:25 am
As I was reading many of the comments, it is clear that virtually nobody has any understanding of enigmatic movies. eg: (Dorothy or the scene when the conversation is about “Gold” with the word “DIAMONDS” above them, etc, etc.) Unfortunate, but that is reality! If there is no car chase, naked women, foul language, etc. the movie is deemed to be a failure.
This movie is no doubt the best movie that was ever made on the subject. If you don’t understand, you are not ready for it! It is that simple!
No one can appreciate the truth if he is unprepared for it, just like a monkey can’t appreciate a harp.
Nothing is derogatory about this statement. It is a fact of life!
The quote from Mark Twain comes to mind about “journalists”.