Review: Rocknrolla - 'Guy Ritchie wants to apologize'

After 2005’s delightfully masturbatory chess match/psychological thriller “Revolver” dealt a critical blow to writer/director Guy Ritchie’s cinematic allure, it forced the filmmaker to retreat to his established bag of tricks. That said, “RocknRolla” is an invigorating, grimly hilarious return to old Ritchie sensibilities, the director mounting a slingshot crime saga with more gravitas and hangdog heroics than previously seen. It’s a familiar surface of sleazebags and double-crosses, but it remains intriguingly affectionate under Ritchie’s breezy guidance. London kingpin Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) is facing the waning days of true criminal dominance, trying to slip into bed with shady Russian businessmen (including Karel Rodan) to secure a massive real estate deal. Mixed up in the muck are a mid-level thugs One Two (Gerard... [read full story]