A Profound Exploration of Drug Trafficking or a Mere Narco Satire?
Take a hop across the pond into director Guy Ritchie’s fictional world of British highbrow society and the cannabis industry that infiltrates its boarding schools, horse races, and family estates. The Gentlemen is a two-hour action comedy film that presents the chaotic world of cannabis cultivators and distributors in high-society England led by our protagonist: Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey). As Mickey seeks to retire from his highly successful criminal career, his search for a successor proves disadvantageous as a cast of characters enters the picture, each with their own agenda and methods to delegitimize Mickey’s position on top. Battling enemies within and outside his organization, Mickey’s ambitious efforts at a peaceful transfer of power raise the question, “Can one truly walk away from a life of drugs and crime?”
The Gentlemen explores the elite circles of the British aristocracy, a demographic in stark contrast to the other narcotrafficking groups which dominate popular Western media. While narco stories are steeped in deceit, corruption, and the promise of blood, Ritchie’s depiction of the cannabis industry showcases intelligent business deals, organized practices, and limited violence executed by rival gangs and urban thugs. However, at the heart of The Gentlemen is a story of organized crime surrounding illegal drug consumption perpetuated by an ambitious man with the world at his fingertips.
The story of male drug kingpins with unlimited power is not new. In fact, current media trends have these stories dominating streaming services and movie theatres. However, what sets The Gentlemen apart from other cartel stories is the depiction of the cannabis industry in England compared to other drug empires worldwide. In The Gentlemen, Mickey’s operations are presented with excitement and comedy, romanticizing the consumption of weed and his authoritative behavior. Ritchie paints Mickey as our hero, and his accompanying moral compass encourages audience support. Unlike the typical portrayal, Ritchie creates a new type of character in drug-related entertainment: the morally just kingpin. Even Raymond (Charlie Hunnam), Mickey’s right-hand man, describes him as “gentrified” (Richie, 40:00).
In many ways, The Gentlemen is similarly a “gentrified” story of illicit drug operations. The movie echoes other narco-related accounts of drug empires, kingpins, and tragedies. However, Ritchie’s story is dominated by the white elite in a first-world country, resulting in a drastically different viewing experience. When Spanish is replaced by English, uzis for knives, and flip flops for Burberry tracksuits and cashmere sweaters, the stakes feel lower and the villains less evil. The Gentlemen requires an open analysis of the cannabis industry, dominated by a white nobility, in contrast to the other narco stories delivered in popular media. The film poses the question: Is Ritchie’s portrayal of a “gentrified” drug business a parody of the narco-entertainment genre or simply a satire of British upper-class drug markets?