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The Gentlemen is a new Guy Ritchie series for Netflix, as well as the title of his 2019 film, and while I haven’t seen that, then while the character names are different – along with the plot synopsis, I presume this is in the same ‘universe’.
For Eddie Halstead (Theo James – The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance), his father, Archibald Horatio Laubrover Horniman (what a mouthful!), aka the 12th Duke of Halstead, dies, but since he’s younger than brother Freddy (Daniel Ings – The Marvels), he resigns himself with “Freddy’s the heir, and I’m the spare“, presuming referencing Prince Harry and his silly, entitled book.
However, when it comes to the will, Freddy is left out, even though he’s the first-born son. Probably a good thing, given how Eddie’s more together as a human, while Freddy stuffs coke up his nose and is in hock to Scouse crime family operative Tommy Dixon (Peter Serafinowicz, putting in a surprisingly good turn) to the tune of £8m.
So, our lead is asset-rich, but cash-poor, leaving them all in a pickle. However, former business partner of his father, Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario – Crawl), may just have the answer to his fiduciary problems, given how there’s a whacking great cannabis farm underneath the house which he never knew about. At the same time, the dapper Stanley Johnston (Giancarlo Esposito – Kaleidoscope, Far Cry 6) wants to buy the mansion, which would rather put a dampner on that business.
Added to the cast is a surpisingly-calm Vinnie Jones (Kill The Irishman) as the groundskeeper, Geoff Seacombe.
So far, I’ve seen two episodes of The Gentlemen, and it’s very much mixed bag, so far. Despite the fast cutting between clips in the same scenes – a trademark of Guy Ritchie – the opener is very drawn out and takes a hell of a long time to get going.
And while it’s quite amusing at times – such as during the will-reading scene when the penny drops for Freddy that he’s getting nothing, given the lawyer’s voiceless actions late in the conversation: “Don’t shake your head. You’re not a cocktail(!)”, another of his trademarks is that what we can see is very much a case of style over substance. It’s also quite weird at times, but I am enjoying it more than I expected, so I’ll watch a couple more to see if it’s worth sticking with.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
The Gentlemen is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from Thursday March 7th.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 40-70 minutes per episode (8 episodes)
Release date: March 7th 2024
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.39:1
Series Directors: Guy Ritchie, David Caffrey, Eran Creevy, Nima Nourizadeh
Producers: Max Keene, Laura Jackson, Nick Shuttleworth
Writers: Matthew Read, Guy Ritchie
Music: Christopher Benstead
Cast:
Eddie Halstead: Theo James
Freddy Halstead: Daniel Ings
Susie Glass: Kaya Scodelario
Joey: Shane Walker
Lady Sabrina: Joely Richardson
Geoff Seacombe: Vinnie Jones
Stanley Johnston: Giancarlo Esposito
Henry Collins: Max Beesley
Stevens: Alexis Rodney
Bobby Glass: Ray Winstone
Max Bassington: Freddie Fox
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.