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NOT AS BAD AS REVOLVER: RocknRolla (15).
AFTER the truly dreadful Swept Away and Revolver, you wonder how Guy Ritchie had the will or financial backing to make another film and why anyone of note would want to appear in it.
Well, as they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, so he has gone back to what he knows best - the gangster movie - and has attracted an A-list British cast to boot.
The good news is that RocknRolla is better than Revolver and makes a lot more sense and, this time round, there are no Kabbalah influences or references. The bad news is that it's all style over substance.
Set in present-day London, criminal underworld boss Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) is arranging a major property deal for Russian oligarch Uri (Karl Roden), who bears more than a striking resemblance to Roman Abramovich, and everyone wants a piece of the action.
Wilkinson is excellent as always, while Gerard Butler is surprisingly good as the stupidly named mobster One Two.
Thandie Newton is somewhat wasted as Uri's smart and sexy accountant. Toby Kebbell, who stars as Johnny Quid, lacks charisma.
The worrying news is that RocknRolla could be the first of a trilogy. Let's pray that Ritchie isn't on a roll.
MARIA DUARTE