'Passag' director nounc 'dangero' NC-17 ratg on a film pictg a gay love story

Ever sce Guy Rchie explod to the pennt cema landspe the late 1990s, he’s been one of the signature trs of the crime genre, jectg a particular blend of style and enthiasm — and a penchant for overlappg ensemble storyl — to the cematic lexin. To his fans, that’s enough: Rchie’s many siar crime edi scratch a particular ch by tellg one type of story largely siar ways, not unlike a seri of slasher sequels or rom-s. To his crics, sometim seems like Rchie is a one-trick pony, even though he’s repeatedly tried, wh some succs and some failur, to break out of his inic style and prove how multifaceted he n be.11\. “Swept Away” (2002)La Wertmüller’s “Swept Away by an Unual Dty the Blue Sea of Augt,” and all of s ntroversial ias and artistic ambn, gets swept away a tidal wave of eptu by Guy Rchie’s ill-fated remake. Madonna stars as a stuck-up Amerin palist who ab a fisherman (Adriano Gianni, son of Gianrlo Gianni, who starred the origal) aboard her yacht, but when they get strand on a serted island, he has all the power, and he to huiate and woo her. The first half of Rchie’s “Swept Away” n’t ci if ’s a clumsy social satire or an awful screwball edy. The send half n’t ci if ’s paful or jt pla embarrassg.10\. “Kg Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017)Rchie’s attempt to do for Kg Arthur what he did for Sherlock Holm don’t have the same zg, perhaps s bee this attempt to mornize the character for young dienc reli on “ol” filmmakg trop the filmmaker has been g sce the 1990s. To put another way, this actually is your parents’ “Kg Arthur.” Gngy and streetwise and full of handsome men pummelg each other, Rchie’s terpretatn would be enjoyably faiar if didn’t play like a llectn of endls montag, nnected only by the thnt strands of plot.9\. “Sherlock Holm: Game of Shadows” (2011)The sequel to “Sherlock Holm” is more of the same, to the extent that a few weeks after you watch , ’s hard to distguish om s precsor. Robert Downey Jr. and Ju Law are still charmg, and Jared Harris is a wele addn as Dr. Moriarty, but Noomi Rapace is squanred, Rachel McAdams served better too, and the overall story is a ted miasma. The bt part of the “Game of Shadows” is s clever climax, which Holm and Moriarty fally face off, but their tense battle of ws — each one predictg the other’s every move — looks remarkably like the world’s most melodramatic starg ntt.8\. “Aladd” (2019)For whatever reason, Rchie pulled his signature style almost entirely back for his remake of Disney’s “Aladd,” to the pot that ’s hard to image why he even ma . If his name wasn’t on the creds, you’d probably never know. It’s a pable productn, wh sparklg performanc by Mena Massoud as Aladd, Naomi Stt as Prcs Jasme, and Will Smh as the wisecrackg Genie, but the film fails to addrs some of the more ser thematic problems wh the text, and s sense of spectacle tops out at “elaborate Las Vegas stage show.” It’s far om the worst live-actn Disney remake, but ’s one of the least tertg exampl so far of the stud gog back to the well, and of Rchie’s search for mastream succs.7\. “Revolver” (2005)It’s been said that Guy Rchie tends to make the same movie over and over aga, i.e. elaborate ensemble crime edi prented wh plex edg, thunro stylizatn and tons of macho preeng. While that’s often te, ’s worth notg that “Revolver” is Rchie’s attempt to e that amework to serve a different functn: He fds wh this story of a dyg gambler (Jason Statham) nned to workg for v loan sharks (André Benjam and Vcent Pastore), while evadg the rage of his old nemis (Ray Ltta), a path to philosophil enlightenment. Rchie’s attempt to explore Kabbalah via crimal storyl and btal symbolism is ham-fisted to the pot of puttg a ser stra on the ham dtry, and the cln of documentary footage over the creds explag the msage of the film is borrle sultg to the dience’s telligence. But “Revolver” is neverthels an trigug stab at g the filmmaker’s ual predilectns the service of self-exploratn.6\. “The Gentlemen” (2020)Well, what do we have here? An elaborate ensemble crime edy, you say? “The Gentlemen” is very much a return to form for Rchie, after a seri of dabbl blockbter anchise flicks, but although the st is dapper and havg a good time — Matthew McConghey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Goldg and Col Farrell are all engaged crimal enterpris surroundg a massive illegal marijuana operatn — Rchie’s style is subdued this time, to the pot of beg paratively drowsy. And the film’s amg vice, which a blackmailg reporter played by Hugh Grant pch his illic like he’s pchg a Guy Rchie movie, isn’t so much clever or metatextual as is a thly disguised attempt to make this siar story seem ever so slightly different om the rt.5\. “RockNRolla” (2008)Rchie once aga assembled a phenomenal st for a wiry, energetic, sprawlg crime edy, and he succeed jt fe “RockNRolla.” It’s the story of a giant rporate bs al that trickl down to the crimal unrworld, where street-level thiev played by Gerard Butler, Idris Elba and Tom Hardy get way over their heads. And somehow all ti to the myster ath of a rock star. Lively and engagg, although heavily reliant on ted and sultg gay-panic jok, “RockNRolla” isn’t Rchie’s bt film, ’s not his worst film, ’s jt one of them. And that’s more or ls fe.4\. “Sherlock Holm” (2009)Forcefully pullg Sherlock Holm off of his high horse and throwg him to a street-fightg tournament — where, turns out he may have always belonged — was a smart play Rchie’s first “Holm” movie. The tective was always a pulp hero, and Rchie jt add a different variety of pulp. Robert Downey Jr. navigat the fe le between tellectual superr and social lout, Ju Law is a fantastic straight man, and Rachel McAdams steals many a scene as Holm’s greatt match. Rchie tak this spry screenplay the right directns, assembl a fantastic st, and absolutely satisfi.3\. “Lock, Stock and Two Smokg Barrels” (1998)Rchie’s feature directorial but n’t possibly have the same explosive impact today as did more than 20 years ago, but ’s still a r light. Our troductn to Rchie’s distct world of the English crimal unrworld, where well-tentned hooligans reen across the bow of harned killers, and every illegimate enterprise is directly or directly nnected to every other, has all the brash energy of a filmmaker sperately tryg to show the world what they n do. And turns out that what Guy Rchie n do is craft lovable antihero by the dozen and p them agast each other an eclectic Rube Goldberg mache of cince and irony.2\. “Snatch” (2000)Guy Rchie’s send film is, ankly, a lot like his first, and helped solidify three fundamental tths about the filmmaker: 1) He’s got a schtick; 2) That schtick equently works; and 3) No serly, he’s really got a schtick. But although “Snatch” feels like a kissg of “Lock, Stock” (and “RockNRolla,” and “Revolver,” and “The Gentlemen”), ’s a great example of a filmmaker hong their craft. “Snatch” is a sharper productn, full of great moments and distctive characters, eded slickly, prented wh tensy and glee. It’s a spectacular crime per om start to fish.1\. “The Man om U.N.C.L.E.” (2015)Ntled perfectly the middle of Rchie’s fascatn wh male ego, macho bondg and eye-tchg slickns, “The Man om U.N.C.L.E.” is far more than an adaptatn of a 50-year-old TV spy show. The plot is exactly what you’d expect, wh an suave Amerin pnage agent (Henry Cavill) teamg up wh and snipg at his sophistited Rsian unterpart (Armie Hammer) at the height of the Cold War, but all the tails are predited on luxur exploratns of 1960s style. The hero don’t drs sexily as a byproduct of their olns; they drs sexily bee they re about fashn and know si and out. “The Man om U.N.C.L.E.” subverts the spy genre by workg backwards, askg what kd of people would actually engage the liftyle the movi sell their dienc, and absolutely fallg love wh those kds of people. Heroic and sexy, excg and wry, “The Man om U.N.C.L.E.” is Rchie’s ft work, and one of the most unrrated films the origal story All 11 Guy Rchie Films, Ranked Worst to Bt (Photos) At TheWrap