Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (Mirimax, 2023)

 

Ruse de what? I don't know and I don't think anyone else does, either. 

Ever since I saw Snatch way back in (yes, it's almost impossible to believe) the year 2000, I have been a fan of Guy Ritchie films. Snatch opened my eyes to Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) --  arguably a better film, but Snatch will always be closer to my heart -- and even if Guy Ritchie never made another film, his place in Hollywood history would have been permanently sealed. However, he is also the director behind the Robert Downey Jr. & Jude Law Sherlock Holmes films, which are -- in my opinion -- the best iteration of the seemingly endless Sherlock Holmes adaptations. He also directed the high-minded but ultimately not as memorable Revolver (2005) with Ray Liotta. As well as The Gentlemen (2020), which is a personal favorite. I'm just mentioning these because they're my favorites, but he's also responsible for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) which I have not seen.

Just saying... I went into the theater to watch Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre already predisposed to like it. How could you not, given the cast: Jason Statham, Hugh Grant, Cary Elwes, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett. All this film requires you to do is show up, sit your ass down, suspend reality, and not be too judgy. 

These kinds of crime caper, action/comedies are basically just lighter-hearted, ensemble Bond films, and God bless them for that. They feature well-funded good guys flying around the world -- in this case Madrid, Morocco, Turkey, Cannes -- impeccably dressed and armed to the teeth with every kind of weapon, conventional and technological, while they trade wise-cracks, swill expensive beverages, and outwit the equally dapper and well-funded bad guys. If this doesn't get your blood pumping, I apologize. It does mine. 

The actual plot? Something about a briefcase, and A.I. (of course; this is 2023 after all), and technology, and missiles. Or something. Who really cares? You've got Jason Statham strutting around beating the crap out of people between swigs of Chateau Margaux and pointed jabs at his geeky, frustrated-but-not-too-frustrated boss Cary Elwes, decked out in a catalogue of fine menswear enough to fill an entire Spring issue of British GQ. You've got Hugh Grant playing the smarmy, cockney billionaire hitting on everything that moves, but mostly on Aubrey Plaza's character, the computer wiz (did I just say that? I'm old) Sarah, whose every outfit in this film seems perfectly suited to showing off her mile-long legs. Josh Hartnett attempts to pull of the "movie-star recruited into helping the bad guys by playing himself in real life" thing (where else have we seen this before? Ocean's 12 maybe?) but he doesn't quite pull it off. Either he's not funny enough or he wasn't trying hard enough or the writing just wasn't there.

If you go into a film like this expecting to be intellectually stimulated, you're not going to get that. And if you go into this film expecting to see another Snatch or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, well, you're not going to get that either; however, let's face it, we always hope -- in our heart of hearts -- that's what we're going to get.  

In this case, instead, you get two hours of sexy, well-dressed people in exotic locations blowing stuff up using the latest technology and trading witticisms -- even if, let's face it, they are kind of weak -- while they manage to (yet again) save the world or something. To me, this is worth the $10.50 price of admission. You know basically what to expect, and you get it. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

In the end, I think Operation Fortune will, however, be a forgettable effort in Guy Ritchie's oeuvre. It's just a little to much like every other international crime caper "where's the briefcase" film, and not distinct enough in any one direction. At least this film's recent, more memorable cousin The Gentlemen stood out for it's unique plot structure, more interesting characters, and also had the benefit of being set in merry-old-London Towne where -- let's face it-- Guy Ritchie's films belong.