This $115M Guy Ritchie Movie's Release On Netflix Could Not Be Better Timed

Guy Ritchie’s celebrated caper action comedy The Gentlemen just dropped on Netflix at the perfect time. Following the popularity and critical acclaim of Ritchie’s The Gentlemen series starring Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, and Daniel Ings, Ritchie’s The Gentlemen movie is now available to stream on Netflix, just under 2 months after the celebrated series first came out. The Gentlemen’s (2020) cast is led by Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant, Jeremy Strong, and Colin Farrell. Despite earning somewhat mixed reviews among critics, The Gentlemen movie earned an 84% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Gentlemen was a commercial success upon its January 2020 release, earning $115 million worldwide against its relatively modest budget of $22 million. It generated more than $10.5 million in its opening weekend, slightly more than Ritchie’s latest film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which opened to just under $9 million since releasing on April 19, 2024. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare stars Henry Cavill in his first movie since the massive box office flop Argylle, and his first collaboration with Ritchie since 2015’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The Gentlemen and The Covenant are the highest-rated movies of Ritchie’s directorial filmography.

Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen Is Now On Netflix – Here’s What It’s About

The Gentlemen (2020) movie follows a talented American graduate of Oxford University named Michael Pearson, played by the effortlessly cool Matthew McConaughey. Michael or ‘Mickey’ was an incredibly intelligent Rhodes scholar before dropping out to form his enormous criminal empire and becoming one of the most notorious American expats in the United Kingdom. Mickey aims to sell his highly lucrative weed empire in London to an American billionaire named Matthew Berger (Strong) so that he and his wife can retire comfortably, but things don’t go according to plan. A series of blackmail attempts and various schemes to take control of Mickey’s business unfolds.

The Gentlemen is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 75% despite a Metascore of 51. Some of the more positive reviews of The Gentlemen movie commented on the film’s relentless entertainment value and its fun-spirited cast of supporting characters. Brian Lowry of CNN noted in his review that The Gentlemen is “Filled with crosses and double crosses, the plot is mostly irrelevant, but the outlandish flourishes make for a good deal of foul-mouthed fun.” Tom Russo of The Boston Globe wrote, “It’s a diverting if slightly undercooked throwback that could offer more genuine intrigue, but that’s still worth it to see the cast gamely chuck out the window manners and vanity.”

The Gentlemen Movie Is Perfect To Watch After The TV Show On Netflix

Although The Gentlemen 2020 movie and The Gentlemen 2024 television series are both created by Ritchie and share a cinematic universe, the characters do not overlap or connect other than existing in the same story world. Even though The Gentlemen movie isn’t required viewing to understand or learn more about The Gentlemen television series, it’s still the perfect movie to watch for fans of The Gentlemen series. The movie has similar themes, costumes, and an overall vibe that will resonate with fans of The Gentlemen series, even if there is no Theo James in the 4-year-old film.

The Gentlemen also offers something within the vein of classic Guy Ritchie movies dating back as far as 2008. The Gentlemen was cut from a similar cloth as Ritchie’s 2008 gangster classic RocknRolla, which starred Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, and Thandiwe Newton. It’s also thematically along the same lines as 2000’s Snatch starring Brad Pitt and Jason Statham, which is arguably the best movie of Ritchie’s directing career. The timing of The Gentlemen movie’s release on Netflix allows just enough time for fans of The Gentlemen to finish up the 8-part series in anticipation of a potential season 2.

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The Gentlemen Movie Offers An Even Better Guy Ritchie Movie Than The One In Theaters Right Now

The Gentlemen is rated among the best of Guy Ritchie’s movies, along with Snatch and his breakout film debut Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), which both quickly cemented Ritchie’s classic visual and narrative styles. On the contrary, Ritchie’s latest film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is underperforming at the box office and is on track to be Henry Cavill’s second blockbuster flop of 2024. For fans of The Gentlemen series who’d rather spend their time watching a modern Ritchie classic than The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, The Gentlemen is the perfect choice.

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The Gentlemen

Based on the film of the same name, the Gentlemen is a crime drama series created for Netflix by Guy Ritchie. The series follows Eddie Horniman, who inherits his father’s estate, only to discover he has inherited a vast cannabis empire – and all of the rivals that come with it.

Cast

Theo James , Kaya Scodelario , Daniel Ings , Joely Richardson , Giancarlo Esposito , Peter Serafinowicz , Vinnie Jones

Seasons

1