Starring: Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Hugh Grant, Josh Hartnett, Cary Elwes, Eddie Marsan, Max Beesley, Peter Ferdinando, Bugzy Malone
Runtime: 114 mins. Reviewed in Jan 2023
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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Action adventure, with some humour, undercover agents and secret international deals, top spy Orson Fortune leads a team to uncover criminal activities and save the day.
The fortune of the title is Orson Fortune, the espionage agent the British government goes to whenever there is a no holds barred, undercover, deceptions in war (ruse de guerre) job. He is played by Statham, who has worked with director Guy Ritchie for more than 20 years, always the tough guy, never smiling but with a wry sense of humour, more ironic than funny, just some minor variations on the same performance. And audiences have liked him – and he won’t lose any fans because of this film.
Guy Ritchie has directed a variety of films over the decades, Disney’s Aladdin, two Sherlock Holmes stories with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, and plenty of action and gangster films, especially, more recently, The Gentlemen. With this film, he combines action with some spry dialogue and intricate plot developments, which keeps the attention and carries the audience along in a rollicking kind of way.
The British government is represented by Elwes, a solid British character after his years in America, the head of secret operations, called in by the Head of Department, Marsan. Something very secret and valuable is on the illicit market, with a number of international bidders, and a wealthy go-between. Grant made quite an impression in The Gentlemen, playing against his generally accepted type – the uppercrust Englishman. Here he has an even better opportunity to go against image he gives an entertaining performance as a wealthy, genial crook – with a yacht in Cannes. Grant uses a Michael Caine accent to great effect. He is also obsessed with an action film star, Danny Francesco, played effectively by Hartnett.
In the meantime, Orson Fortune is given his back-up, Sarah Fidel from the US, an absolute genius with high-tech, played by Plaza (who has been up and coming for several years in a variety of roles, always aggressive, frequently abrasive, White Lotus 2) and a rather quieter, behind-the-scenes shooter, rapper, Bugzy Malone (no rapping here, rather surveillance advice and some accurate shooting).
There are plenty of scenic treats for the audience – sober London, action at Madrid airport, Los Angeles and Hollywood set, the yacht at Cannes, Turkey and a visit to Doha.
The screenplay keeps up the action throughout. There is never a doubt that Orson Fortune will win any fight that he is in – and that’s a few. But, undercover spies and agents are not like they used to be in the films of the past. We are in a high-tech world, with hacking into every computer system possible, always surveillance and visual coverage of every situation, and, each character with an earpiece, not only able to communicate but also to warn about any attackers try to creep up secretly . . .
So, serious stuff with Statham. Intellectual stuff plus quite a lot of glamour with Plaza. A whole lot of international villains, many from Ukraine (pre-war), and some Americans allegedly involved in a charity for orphans, and Grant with his obsession for the action hero, joining in the finale as if he were performing in an action film – and he is.
Not an arthouse show – but enjoyable entertainment.
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