Guy Ritchie has another misfire with 'Revolver', a film that made its debut at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005 - almost two and a half years ago. Had the film been any good, I'd be pissed.
As it stands, I probably could have waited longer to see this stale crime pic with a narrative so inscrutable yet obvious; the audience can't help but succumb to the tediousness of it all by the end.
Despite an OK cast that includes Jason Statham, Andre Benjamin and a scenery-chewing Ray Liotta - their all outmatched by Ritchie's screenplay that effectively seems to swallow itself whole by the end. I was reminded of a snake that starts eating its tail and then disappears with a poof of smoke.
Jumping right back into the game, his first stop is at the hideous casino of Dorothy Macha (Ray Liotta), the man responsible for his stint in jail. Is a tall order of revenge far behind?
One of these strangers happens to play chess....gee, who could they be? From here, narration and flashbacks are splayed across the screen with reckless abandon with the opening quotes being regurgitated throughout ad nauseam as if to tell the audience they know exactly what's happening.
I'll leave you to poke yourself in the eyes for the answer. And Ritchie defenders? Please don't give me a philosophical breakdown or connections justified through Ritchie's and Madonna's Kabbalah beliefs. I don't need or want to work that hard to be entertained.
The film is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and is enhanced for widescreen televisions. Special Features start off with a full-length audio commentary from writer/director Guy Ritchie which goes a great length in explaining the film but actually ends up making me dislike the film even more.
With choice audio nuggets like ‘transcendence of the conceptualized self’, one may be tempted to conceptualize themselves out of the room.
24 minutes of Deleted Scenes, a 25 minute Making of, a short making the music featurette with the composer, ‘The Concept’ which is essentially an interview with Guy Ritchie and James Herbert and finishing up with a photo gallery, a music video and a host of trailers.
So here’s the deal – I think Ritchie zealots with a lot of time on their hands that are willing to plop down multiple viewings might escape from this film with some sort of meaning.
I however found ‘Revolver’ to get more monotonous and tedious as it went along – as the philosophical layers piled on, I dialed out. There’s some sporadic enjoyment to be had but the film doesn’t even come close to reaching Ritchie’s lofty aspirations.
Revolver is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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