British writer/director Guy Ritchie’s action thrillers always are clever, vicarious fun, in great part because of the snarky, deadpan dry wit with which his characters operate.
This one is no exception.
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| With bodyguards Sid (Henry Cavill, left) and Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) keeping a close watch, Rachel (Eiza González) executes her next move, in an ongoing scheme to make an unscrupulous billionaire pay back the $1 billion that he "borrowed" from a U.S.-based asset management firm. |
So, what did theatergoers miss?
Accomplished, unruffled — and aptly named — corporate lawyer Rachel Wild (Eiza González) introduces her occupation and methods via voice-over. She specializes in recovering debts for wealthy and powerful clients, often operating in the “grey area” between legal and larcenous, always assisted by off-books operatives Sid (Henry Cavill) and Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal).
The latest potential client is Spencer Goldstein, an asset management firm whose public face is the cold-blooded Bobby Sheen (Rosamund Pike, appropriately condescending). The firm recently “loaned” $1 billion to ruthless billionaire Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem), who has refused to pay it back: no surprise to anybody who knows the slightest thing about the guy, as Rachel, Sid and Bronco coolly agree.
Objecting to the size of Rachel’s “finder’s fee,” Bobby first sends fellow “fixer” Braxton (Darrell D’Silva) to Salazar’s private Spanish island, to negotiate terms. He’s quickly killed by the billionaire’s security chief, Axel Olsson (Kristofer Hivju, quite credible as a scary sociopath).
Back to the wall, Bobby reluctantly accepts Rachel’s terms, at which point Ritchie slides his film into high camp. Rachel describes every facet of Phase One — Procedural and Practical — via a humorous version of a grade-school tutorial session. Sid and Bronco listen attentively, while she calmly makes herself a stovetop negroni svegliato cocktail.
Rachel’s initial conference with Salazar’s attorney, William Horowitz (Fisher Stevens), is mere formality; she knows he’ll simply laugh at her. Which he does, although not without a nervous glance in chaperone Sid’s direction.
The team then applies pressure, first by halting Salazar’s construction projects, and also crippling his oil rig. Those and other tactics — all carefully vetted and approved by a judge — get the billionaire’s attention.
But that’s just the initial salvo. While Horowitz becomes an increasingly hysterical nervous wreck — losing every court appearance — Rachel, Sid and Bronco slide into Phase Two: Planning and Preparation. The boys take notes and rope in tech/computer guru Ed Glover (Michael Vu), explosives expert Gucci Reyes (Jason Wong), ace getaway driver Jonathan Moreno (Christian Ochoa Lavernia) and seasoned pilot Mick Dunne (Emmett J. Scanlan).
Knowing that these increasingly expensive jabs ultimately will result in Salazar demanding a sit-down meeting, Sid and Bronco outline the means by which he and their team will “secure” the heavily guarded island, employing a staggeringly impressive supply of weapons and vehicles. The planning is essential, since they’ll be badly outnumbered by Salazar’s private army.
All of these details simultaneously appear, in script, on the left side of the screen ... as they might be listed by a school teacher on a blackboard.
Rachel’s teams also repeatedly practice contingency plans for evacuating her, if necessary, via one of the island’s three possible extraction points.
Even the quieter ploys are ingenious, such as some dodgy backgammon games, and a (ahem) “Trojan Rat.”
We can’t help being impressed by the absurd, over-the-top thoroughness of all this preparatory effort: both from the standpoint of Ritchie having concocted every meticulously far-fetched element, and also because of the accomplished thoroughness with which Sid, Bronco and their guys set up and rehearse all the details.
It’s hard not to laugh ... but it’s a chuckle of head-shaking admiration.
And we think, golly; what could possibly go wrong?
Silly question, of course.
Cavill and Gyllenhaal are a stitch, both collectively and individually. Both are preternaturally calm and unruffled, neither smiling much, although Gyllenhaal’s half-smile — often when Bronco is confronted by an adversary — means that he’s about to do something lethal. Cavill’s Sid is just a touch looser, and less inclined to impulse, as befits his nickname of “Captain Sensible.”
Together, Sid and Bronco share the easygoing banter of a comfortably married couple ... and, indeed, if they aren’t a couple at the moment, they clearly were at one time.
The eternally poised González makes it easy to understand why all of the cheerfully unscrupulous Rachel’s “boys” regard her with such trust and respect, as befits her nickname of “Mom.” At the risk of stating the obvious, González also looks terrific in all of costume designer Loulou Bontemps’ strikingly colorful outfits.
Stevens has a marvelous time as the increasingly harried and terrified Horowitz, deservedly wondering when Salazar will snap and blame him for everything that has gone wrong.
Even as the situation turns violent in the third act, nothing can be taken seriously. Ritchie maintains a mocking tone throughout, well aware that he’s orchestrating preposterous nonsense. He never loses his story’s reliance on boy’s-own-adventure attitude. It’s all great fun, up to the final scene, with its promise of anticipated payback.
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