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Matthew McConaughey

The Gentlemen: In the Jungle, the Lion Eats Tonight

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Written and directed by Guy Ritchie, The Gentlemen introduces the world to Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), an American expatriate in London who built his empire by selling marijuana. When word gets out that wants out of the game, his enemies begin to salivate at the chance to take a bite out of his organization.

Having just finished his work with Disney on the live-action version of Aladdin, The Gentlemen is Ritchie at his free-wheeling best as he creates carnage and chaos in the mob realm once again. (In fact, it may be fair to say that that freedom may be exactly the point of this film, after working in the franchise pressure cooker that is the House of Mouse.) While the script may be a little too self-aware at times, the sheer joy expressed in the film-making and cast make the film a fun viewing experience. Having established himself with modern classics such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, his return to independent film allows him to spin narratives and bullet chambers in his own voice. Quick cuts, fractured storytelling and stop-time action sequences help the film to fit well into Richie’s uniquely stylized canon. What’s more, enthusiastic performances by Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell, Matthew McConaughey and, yes, Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery keep the film wildly entertaining as well. 

The Gentlemen is a film that seeks to preserve the way things as they ‘used to be’. In Pearson’s drug-fueled world of money and mayhem, there are very clear rules about the way that things are handled between those in power. Despite the masculine bravado between players, this is actually a surprisingly ordered society that takes care of their business under guidelines of recognising boundaries, and old-school respect. (The film is called The Gentlemen, after all.) For example, as Mickey attempts to walk away from his drug empire, he offers the business for a ‘fair price’ that seems mutually beneficial. When a client seeks Mickey’s help after his daughter goes missing, he and his men take on the responsibility of bringing her home, even though it has little to do with them. Even the manner of storytelling within the film seems civil as two men unravel the narrative together over drinks and dinner, despite the fact that one of them has broken into the other’s home. Although their actions may be illegal, these men understand that their actions need not necessarily lead to violence (at least, initially). In other words, in this jungle, the animals know who the lion is and they offer him the proper respect.

With this in mind, what’s striking about The Gentlemen is its disregard for cultural conversations surrounding toxic masculinity. In a culture that continues to re-examine the nature of manliness in the light of changes in perspective and hoping to elevate the other, The Gentlemen appears to hit the reset button by throwing men back into the forefront of power.

For instance, the greatest threat to the legacy of the men in power seems to be youthful ambition. Time after time, as young men attempt to solve problems by taking matters into their own hands, they are met with angry words (or worse) from those responsible for them. Caring little for the rules of their elders, these up-and-coming but undisciplined thugs believe that their time has come to challenge for power, leading to chaos within their ordered society. 

Meanwhile, as the youth create anarchy due to their lack of respect, the women are resigned primarily to the sidelines. While Dockery’s performance as Rosalind Pearson is absolutely confident and powerful in her own right, she still requires the strength of her man to come to her rescue. In fact, while there are female characters with a voice in this world, few have the strength to survive. (In other words, this is a film has little interest in passing the ‘Bechdel Test’.)

In The Gentlemen, it is very clear that established men rule.

Even so, despite its over-reliance on strength through masculinity, The Gentlemen really is an entertaining return to form for Ritchie. Just as every great basketball player enjoys a game of pick-up ball with their friends when they’re not playing for the big leagues, so too does Ritchie enjoy begin back in the genre that made him famous. 

The Gentlemen spins its tale in theatres on Friday, January 24th, 2020.

GIVEAWAY! ROE Passes to THE GENTLEMEN! (Canada Only)

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ScreenFish is thrilled to be giving away 5 double Run Of Engagement passes to The Gentlemen, out in theatres on Friday, January 24th, 2020! (Passes are only applicable in Canada.)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Henry Golding, Hugh Grant and Michelle Dockery, The Gentlemen tells the story of Mickey Pearson (McConaughey), an American expatriate who became rich by building a marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business, it soon triggers an array of plots and schemes from those who want his fortune.

The Gentlemen begins its adventure on Friday, January 24th, 2020. Check out the trailer here.

To enter, simply like or share our post on Facebook! For a bonus entry, like or share the post on Twitter and Instagram.

All entries must be completed by 11:59pm on Thursday, January 23rd, 2020.

A special thanks to VVS!

Serenity: Murder and Justice in the Open Water

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Living on an isolated tropical island, Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey) is a fishing boat captain who lives a peaceful life on Plymouth Island, an isolated island in the Carribbean. However, his world is soon shattered when his ex-wife Karen (Anne Hathaway) tracks him down and, desperate for help, begs Baker to rescue her and their young son from her abusive husband, Frank (Jason Clarke). Offering Dill $10M to feed her husband to the sharks in the open water, Karen pleads with him to take on the job. Thrust back into a life that he wanted to forget, Baker now finds himself struggling to choose between right and wrong.

Although the film is fairly uneven—not to mention the wildest twist you can imagine—there are enough things to like about Serenity for those who are game. Directed by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Eastern Promises), Serenity is a neo-noir film laced with sci-fi sensibilities. (No spoilers.) Set on the isolated island in the Caribbean, Knight drops the audience into a steamy world of sex and betrayal. Using bleached colours and shadowy frames, the world is lush in vegetation yet colours bleed together, resulting in a bleak and lifeless atmosphere. Working together for the first time since Intersteller, McConaughey and Hathaway work well with one another, even at times when the material is lacking.

As with many examples of noir, one of the most interesting aspects of the film is its conflicted moral compass. Lost in his own pain and alone, Dill lives in poverty in a repurposed metal shack. His boat is owned by the bank and he can barely pay his first mate. He spends his days chasing his own ‘white whale’, a mysterious giant tuna that constantly escapes him. Named ‘Justice’, the tune is symbolic of the very justice that seems to elude him as he moves from day to day looking for hope to no avail. Though the island is beautiful, what begins as an Edenic paradise soon reveals itself to be anything but. (Case and point: The local tavern bar even changed its name from the ‘Hope and Anchor’ to the ‘Rope and Anchor’, citing that there isn’t much hope on the island.)

Still, in the midst of this dry moral time, Dill refuses to bend to Karen’s request. Despite the lawlessness of the area, Dill believes that there is something fundamentally wrong with the idea of killing anyone, no matter how hateful her husband may be. To him , there remains a dichotomy to life – light and dark, right and wrong – that continues to stand, even in the midst of a world of compromise. Inspired by the chance to be a father to his son, Dill fights hard against the pressures of the culture, even asking his first mate to ‘keep him from temptation’.

Even so, there is a sense of inevitability in Serenity that evil is constantly creeping in the background, waiting to strike. Can a man continue to try to be the man he wants to be, even when there is constant pressure to fall? Or does succumbing to our base impulses bring the justice that we’re looking for? These are ambitious questions for a film like Serenity and, without spoiling anything, the film’s twist reveals that this is also an ambitious film (perhaps tooambitious in that regard). Still, for those who are willing to take the ride and interested in the questions, Serenityis potentially intriguing enough to take the trip, despite its flaws.

Serenity is in theatres now.

TIFF 2018: White Boy Rick

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White Boy Rick takes place in a lower-middle class neighbourhood in 1980’s Detroit where urban decay, a budding crime scene and a nearly uncontrollable drug problem set the tone. Products of their environment, the community seemed to do what was necessary to survive in this rough town, and that often meant getting involved in criminal activity. Rick Wershe Sr. (Matthew McConaughey), for example, was an arms dealer. Though arms dealing was technically legal, Rick Sr. would make alterations to the guns and sell them for significant profit, which was not.

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Rick Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt) seemed like a good kid. He was a teenager that was going through the motions and staying out of trouble. But once he started selling guns for his Dad, he started getting mixed up with the gang crowd. This spiraled into Rick Jr. becoming one of the most prominent criminals in Detroit. The FBI wanted to get their hands on him – but not to book him; they wanted to work with him and use him to lead them to the kingpins.

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Despite the exterior of a dysfunctional family dynamic, the Wershes seemed to always look out for one another. Rick Sr. wasn’t a traditional father, in fact some would say he was downright awful at the role, but he loved and cared for his children very much. When Dawn (Bel Powley) was in trouble, Rick Sr. and Ricky found out where she was staying, took her home (albeit against her will) and forced her to get clean. And similarly, when Ricky got into trouble, Rick Sr. and Dawn both did everything they could to help him. It was interesting to see how the family grew closer the more trouble they were faced with. They can be mad at and disagree with each other, but they’ll always be there to pick each other up when they fall.  It just goes to show that the stereotypical ‘white picket fence’ family really doesn’t exist. Here’s a glimpse at a real family with real problems. I love that we’re seeing more reality and less stereotype in film.

Ricky and Dawn both have fascinating character arcs. Ricky starts out as the good kid and Dawn as the junkie who sleeps around. But as Ricky gets further into the crime world, and as Dawn gets clean, we see them completely switch roles in the family. It’s interesting to see the effect of drugs come to fruition in this film. Ricky starts selling drugs on the street and then goes home to his drug addicted sister. He is indirectly feeding her habit.  Having a family member with substance abuse issues is a very touchy situation to navigate. There’s a fine line between helping them and being too overbearing, consequently driving them back to their comfortable habit. There needs to be a desire for them to want to help themselves and, if that desire is not there yet, perhaps one should first try to be there for them emotionally instead of trying to force it upon them. Show them that they are loved and that there is so much more to life than what they’re currently experiencing. That support system is going to help them out in the long run much more than forcing them to straighten up their act. That’s why it was initially shocking for me that Dawn actually gets clean and seemingly stays that way considering how she was physically forced to do so.  Although, perhaps, she was happy to have the support of her father and brother again.

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We get a glimpse of intense foreshadowing when Johnny (Jonathan Majors), one of the gang leaders, was talking to his group about betrayal. The camera moves to Ricky, who is partially standing behind a pole. The pole covers half of Ricky’s face, and he looks very nervous. The two-faced foreboding in this scene was palpable. Ricky knew he was going against his friends and that it was a serious problem given the physical danger that could come his way if he was found to be a snitch.

The lead role of Rick Wershe Jr. was given to first time actor, Richie Merritt, during a nationwide casting search. Apparently it took them quite a while to find the right fit but it was worth the wait! Not only does Merritt embody White Boy Rick, but his acting skills were impressive given his lack of experience. I’m very interested to see if he continues with acting and if so, what he tackles next. You also couldn’t get much better than Matthew McConaughey as Rick Wershe Sr. He is a genius. Merritt and McConaughey are an absolutely phenomenal duo.

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As a film, White Boy Rick is just down right fantastic, in my opinion. I would encourage you to run to the theatre to catch it. It’s a heavy movie, and there are a few shocking scenes, but it’s an important story to be told.

The real Rick Wershe Jr. was sent to prison for life at the age of 17 for drug crimes in 1988. He is still behind bars. Currently 49 years old, he is allegedly scheduled to be released from prison in 2020.

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Free State of Jones: Reap What You Sow

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Newton (Matthew McConaughey) carries Daniel (Jacob Lofland) across an active battlefield

The Civil War wasn’t the greatest period in the history of the United States, as most people will attest.  A country founded on liberty fought over whether liberty was to be fully extended to all people. Yet in Mississippi, a unique situation developed—a group of runaway slaves and war deserters took over a sizable area of the state independent of either Union or Confederate control.  In director Gary Ross’s newest film, Free State of Jones, he chronicles its leader Newton Knight and the community he established.  There’s some good stuff to be found here, but the film doesn’t quite know what it wants to be and suffers as a result.

Ross begins with a riveting sequence where a company of Confederate soldiers march up a hill and face the Union in battle.  It’s bloody and graphic and sets the tone for the rest of the film.  Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey), a farmer turned Confederate nurse/medic, wants to help as much as possible.  But when his younger cousin Daniel (Jacob Lofland) is taken out by a sharpshooter’s bullet, Newton decides to take him home to his mother. This is known as desertion, putting a death sentence on Newton’s head.  To keep from having this happen, he flees into the swamp and meets a cast of other runaways—including slaves like Moses (Mahershali Ali), who wears a spiked collar placed on him by his former master.  Slowly, Knight begins to gather their trust and the group begins to add members while defending themselves. Knight’s wife Serena (Keri Russell) flees to Georgia with the kids while Newton begins to help a slave girl named Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) learn to read.  Slowly, she becomes a replacement for Serena.

The group continues to grow and finally has the attention of the Confederate army.  After watching one of his families surrender to the army (and later hang from a tree), they stage a well-orchestrated ambush of the Confederate company, earning a victory in the process.  From here, the Free State of Jones (named after Jones County, Mississippi) is created and its inhabitants—both slave and free—are treated as equals.

The resolution of the film is not what you’d expect—and that’s where Ross makes a major misstep. You see, Free State of Jones would play fantastically as an action film along the likes of a Confederate version of Robin Hood.  But Ross adds in significant elements of a documentary, altering the pacing and changing the feel of the film to a history lesson. As if this isn’t enough, Ross then adds a third aspect to the story—a court case 85 years later involving one of Knight’s descendants.  This is shown in short snippets and is thrown in irregularly, further breaking the flow of the film.  What started out as a battle film is changed into a question of whether Newton’s descendant is part African-American (implying he had a child with Rachel).  One piece on its own would’ve been fine, but all three become a disjointed mess.  Too bad.

FREE STATE OF JONESAs for the other aspects of the film, I think they were well done. The cinematography is outstanding and conveys the time frame well.  The music is subtle enough to impact yet not overpower.  McConaughey is fantastic as Newton Knight, revealing a noticeable and believable shift in becoming the leader and face of the Free State of Jones. Mbatha-Raw, likewise, does well as Rachel, adding an air of cautiousness and enthusiasm to her role.  Sadly, Russell is almost an afterthought in the film, seeing most of her screen time in an awkward conversation with Rachel over a crying baby. It’s unfortunate that the directing and editing let this film down.

For Newton, the biggest point for him involves sowing that which one reaps (Galatians 6:7), since he was a farmer. He even bases the newly created state on this principle, allowing all people to have land and care for it—including the freed slaves.  In addition, he helps to empower the least to be more than they could ever be.  Consider the following clip, where Newton asks Moses point blank what he is–a child of God.  When a person becomes one of God’s children, they are transformed into something they could not be on their own.  The apostle Paul puts it this way: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (1 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). They can’t be owned (as Newton says) and don’t have to worry about the past, but can look confidently toward the future and the hope Jesus offers.  You see this later in the film when Moses gets his family back and is seen cultivating a field all his own.  It gives freedom a meaning foreign to many of us today.  It’s also a good reminder for us to not take what we’ve been given for granted. Look confidently into an uncertain future and trust God.