written and directed by Guy Ritchie
starring Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Chris Bridges, Jeremy Piven, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Tony Kebbell, Nonso Anozie
What is a RocknRolla? Well, it isn’t simply being able to turn the heads of scores of shouting babes merely by babbling odes of distress and posturing your body at the precise angle of their shared, inglorious climax. It is more than the primal demonstrations of all the glittering young suicides smashing themselves into hyped up states and vomiting seismically on their prized lizard skin boots. Yet it is both of these things and much, much more.
All one really needs to know about this glistening, heroic take on the pulsating urgency that drives certain people to great, totemic excess can be found in a brief scene where Johnny Quid (Kebbell) is playing with his guns. His movements, the dusty filth of his room, and the lighting create a scene of melancholic poetry. As the soundtrack aches Lou Reed’s “The Gun”, Johnny slowly moves his body in an elegy to hard muscle sorrows. Then his body begins to spasm and we see the junkie’s soft train to oblivion derailing into the cold, fathomless depths below. It’s a tragic moment and haunts the film in an exquisite torment that underlies every scene and every word.
Lenny Cole (Wilkinson) is a shady businessman who brokers deals for those who would otherwise be unable to secure the proper authorization. As the film begins he’s working on a deal between a Russian mafia type named Uri (Karel Roden) and the Councillor (Jimi Mistry). All does not go according to plan. There are too many variables at play and each of them want a piece of the action.
At the center of this story is a painting which we never see. It is Uri’s favorite painting and he has determined that it brings him good luck. As a gesture of good will he allows Lenny to “borrow” it for an indefinite time. However, Johnny Quid breaks in to Lenny’s house and steals it to possibly shift for smack at some later date. But he too is utterly transfixed by the painting and loath to give it up. Ultimately we follow the painting as it corkscrews throughout the film landing in the hands of a ribald cast of characters. It’s a symbol for a haunting, brutal form of beauty that reverberates throughout the film and provides it with a sad, jangling quality that pretty much sums up Johnny Quid’s life. As he is Lenny’s stepson he has been subjected to the whiny intonations of the man who professes to own the entire city. He’s a bit wound up as his snug little world slowly becomes alien to him.
In the guise of Johnny Quid Ritchie has crafted an individual who has clearly taken life as it comes without bothering to torment himself with unnecessary worries or concerns. He’s completely fearless and we discover this characteristic in a flashback fifteen years previous. He’s singing along in the mirror to the Clash’s “Bank Robber” and he’s maybe ten or eleven. Lenny comes in hollering for him to shut the music off but as soon as he slithers away Johnny cranks it back up again. Then we see Lenny unloosening his belt and we learn the occasional price of rocking out takes out on true believers. It’s that perfect moment where it’s clear as death that Johnny has geared himself up in such a way that the only real alternatives are prison or rock ‘n’ roll. He seemingly chooses the latter exclusively although there is something of the hard man in Johnny. There is a venom in him that informs every gesture and propels him forward into realms both terrible and pristine. He seems to need nothing to live on provided he can get high and lose himself for a bit.
This is a character driven film and there are certainly a great number of personalities who all play off one another in this story of deception and intrigue. At the center of this game is Stella (Newton), Uri’s slinky, sexy attorney who gets bored one day and decides to lighten the coffers of her boss for her own amusement. She hires One Two (Butler) and Mumbles (Elba) to perform the same precise robbery two times with different personnel. The first one goes exceedingly well but they are ill prepared for the tenacity of their next victims and barely escape with their lives. In one of the many highly comical moment, one of the angry Russians refuses to be beaten and lunges onto the back of their car wielding knives and piercing the hood. Stella merely purrs and licks her paws before bedding One Two in perhaps what might be the briefest sex scene in cinema history. She’s a very dangerous woman because she knows how to connect the dots and maintain her cover without drawing attention to herself.
Archie is Lenny’s gracious, sophisticated right hand man. He’s the type that never leaves any detail unattended and knows how to keep things in the most impeccable order. He’s a skilled man with useful talents and he applies these to a variety of enterprises. He simply knows how to get things done and by the end of the film it’s clear just how skilled this man truly is on an almost metaphysical level.
This is in many ways a film that celebrates high culture or at least the leisure required to truly acquire a lasting appreciation for its finer aspects. There is an elegance to many of the scenes and various shots betray a nuanced grasp of editing that specifically conveys a legitimate sheen of glamour. Yet it is not all style as the story bears enough weight to keep audiences pondering well after the final credits. Is this a psychosexual romance between one tortured man and his decimated muse discovered randomly in a treasured artwork destined to pull him forever inward? Does Johnny realize a part of himself that had gone missing as he gazes longingly into the many mysteries inherent in the painting?
This film is deeply lacquered by the usual suspects. Vanity, greed, deceit, and all the other malignancies that eventually bring the walls closing in fast. Johnny Quid is a concoction of aggression and poetry within the framework of each song. Yet we never actually get to see him perform. The closest we come follows his youthful rendition of “Bank Robber”. The film returns to present time and adult Johnny is now singing the words while brandishing firearms in one of those drop dead sexy moments of control and brazen cool.
The performances in this film all bring out the color and excuses of each character. They are all intricately woven players who create an exceedingly energetic and ambitious story of hunger and need. Tony Kebbell radiates a mesmeric quality that is as haunting as it is heartbreaking. Johnny Quid is the quintessential bohemian struggling through the pipe and its imminent decay to reveal something he can grasp hold of. Kebbell gives us a character of great depth as one readily senses Johnny’s earnestness and frightening self awareness. Tom Wilkinson is in top form here and he brings a certain blase deliberateness to the role. Lenny is a lifelong player and Wilkinson easily captures his bravado and illustrates the man’s supreme self importance. Lenny is ruled by things he can trust and part of his genius has been being able to trust the right people. Thandie Newton as mentioned plays a hissing, clawing sex kitty with a menacing streak that is belied by her classic, formal austerity. Newton plays Stella as emotional calculus; she’s cold and decisive and driven by lusts that are scarcely quenched. Stella needs danger to feel alive and her maneuverings in this film suggest a playful lucidity that is terribly delightful to encounter. Gerard Butler demonstrates a bit more of that beefy charisma that makes him perfect for these types of roles. His character is clearly a charmer and Butler projects just enough goofy swagger to keep the film slightly askew during his scenes. Mark Strong is a solid, impervious presence who creates a highly polished diplomat who knows who to lean on to get things done. Strong is dynamic and his character is ruthlessly aware of his surroundings at all times.
Overall, this is a fresh, highly stylized film that digs into motivations that drive people to behave in the specific manner that they do. This film certainly explores greed and the ways that individuals motivated by cold hard cash can be manipulated for a variety of ends. Johnny Quid is an entirely different animal who is lured by a beauty that he recognizes to be wholly cruel and unforgiving in the end. There is quite a bit of poetry here and much of it is brought in through skilled editing and a willingness to maintain a certain formality that allows various scenes to readily take shape.
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