RocknRolla (2008)

When a Russian mobster orchestrates a crooked land deal, millions of dollars are up for grabs, drawing in the entire London underworld into a feeding frenzy at a time when the old criminal regime is losing turf to a wealthy foreign mob.

Director:

Guy Ritchie

Writer:

Guy Ritchie

Stars:

Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Idris Elba

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gerard Butler	...	One Two
Tom Wilkinson	...	Lenny Cole
Thandie Newton	...	Stella
Mark Strong	...	Archy
Idris Elba	...	Mumbles
Tom Hardy	...	Handsome Bob
Karel Roden	...	Uri Omovich
Toby Kebbell	...	Johnny Quid
Jeremy Piven	...	Roman
Ludacris	...	Mickey (as Chris Bridges)
Jimi Mistry	...	Councillor
Matt King	...	Cookie
Geoff Bell	...	Fred the Head
Dragan Micanovic	...	Victor
Michael Ryan	...	Pete

Storyline

Lenny Cole, a London mob boss, puts the bite on all local real estate transactions. For substantial fees, he's helping Uri Omovich, a Russian developer. As a sign of good faith, Omovich loans Cole a valuable painting, promptly stolen off Cole's wall. While Cole's men, led by the dependable Archie, look for the canvas, three local petty criminals, the Wild Bunch, steal money from the Russian using inside information from his accountant, the lovely Stella. Meanwhile, a local drug-addled rocker, Johnny Quid, is reported drowned, and his connection to Cole is the key to unraveling the deceits and double crosses of life in the underworld.

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | homosexual | robbery | corruption | painting | 

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Taglines:

A story of sex, thugs and rock 'n roll.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, violence, drug use and brief sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

The club scene where "Rock and Roll Queen" plays was actually filmed at The Subways live show in Bournemouth. They had to play the song twice.

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Goofs

On the golf course, Uri advises Lenny that, because they are on the ninth hole, it will take him until sunrise to get back to his car. The ninth and eighteenth greens are often closest to the clubhouse, however many traditional British links style courses have ninth holes that are the furthest point from the clubhouse. This is the basis of the expression, "at the turn" in golf. After the ninth hole, the golfers will turn around and the remaining holes will lead them back to clubhouse. This is also why scorecards say "out" referring to the score on the front nine and "in" for the back nine.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Archie: People ask the question... what's a RocknRolla? And I tell 'em - it's not about drums, drugs, and hospital drips, oh no. There's more there than that, my friend. We all like a bit of the good life - some the money, some the drugs, others the sex game, the glamour, or the fame. But a RocknRolla, oh, he's different. Why? Because a real RocknRolla wants the fucking lot.

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Crazy Credits

There is a scene in the closing credits: the complete scene of One Two dancing with Handsome Bob at the gay bar.

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Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #4.37 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Mirror in the Bathroom
(Everett Morton (as Morton) / David Steele (as Steele) / David Wakeling (as Wakeling) / Roger Charlery (as Charlery) / Andy Cox (as Cox))
Published by Warner Chappel Music LTD
used by Kind Permission of Warner Chappel Music
Performed by The Beat
Licensed courtesy of Warner Music UK LTD

User Reviews

A Small Movie That May Make Big Things Happen For the People Involved

RocknRolla seems to be the beginning of the resurrection of Guy Ritchie's career. Not to anyone's surprise he does this with what he has been so potent with throughout his career; a British gangster film. If you've had any experience with Ritchie movies you know exactly what you're getting into here, a comedic thriller. This of course may seem problematic, in Ritchie's case it is not.

The writing and dialog is fast paced and quite witty and entertaining to watch. The movie as a whole maybe be a bit of a head scratcher here and there but the pay off is good and the idea is a bit of a parody of itself which is what makes this film so fun.

What Ritchie accomplishes though, in the same way he has with his past successful productions is putting together an extremely diverse and yet correlating cast. This starts with the lead man in Gerard Butler whose notoriety has steadily risen largely through his performances of comical caricatures (not an insult). With RocknRolla Butler seems to have found a role perfect for his appeal and charm he brings to the screen. This is largely because of a witty script and great, fun performances all around.

Then of course there is Mark Strong who until this year was largely a total unknown, at least in the American mainstream. While Gerard Butler may have found a genre he is most strongly suited for, Mark Strong could certainly use this along with Body of Lies to launch to the very least a respectable acting career. His posture, range and ability to change tone and style subtly not only between films but within them is something that should be and surely will be recognized.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Warner Bros. [Japan]

Country:

UK USA France

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

31 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

RocknRolla

Filming Locations:

UK

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$144,701, 12 October 2008

Gross USA:

$5,700,626

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,740,863

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Dark Castle Entertainment, Toff Guy Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1