Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
Guy Ritchie's latest is a fun romp that pish poshes Bond and takes the piss out of "Mission: Impossible."
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Guy Ritchie first piqued my interest when he won Best New Filmmaker at the 1999 MTV Movie Awards for his feature directorial debut “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” I promptly went out and rented the VHS cassette, which I really dug and watched repeatedly.
I have fond memories of seeing Ritchie’s sophomore effort “Snatch” theatrically with buddies on a cold, snowy January night during my freshman year of college at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
(Fun Story: Seven of us piled into our friend’s Buick Tiburon sedan (he was the only one with a car) to attend the screening. I rode in the trunk, which I was often wont to do as it afforded me more space and I’m an “Out of Sight” fan. After almost crashing into a Land Rover in the parking lot we stumble into the theater and find our seats. One of my buddies – a little Korean-American dude who was chemically altered at the time – turns around in his seat and sees local celebrities John Mellencamp and his wife at the time Elaine Irwin sitting directly behind us. He then takes it upon himself to stand up, face the Mellencamps and begin crooning, “A little ditty ‘bout Jack & Diane.” Mellencamp, embarrassed, laughs and gestures for my friend to sit down. Upon exiting the theater and returning to the Tiburon we see the Mellencamps getting into the aforementioned Land Rover. I’m sure they were super-impressed by the likes of us.)
I’ve liked a lot of Ritchie’s output in the years since. “The Gentlemen,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” the Robert Downey Jr.-fronted “Sherlock Holmes,” flicks, “Wrath of Man” and his live action adaptation of “Aladdin” (Keep Princess Jasmine’s name out of your f*cking mouth!) are all good shit. “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,” “RockNRolla,” “Revolver” and “Swept Away” are pretty much shit.
Ritchie’s latest – the oft-delayed “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” (now in theaters) – likely won’t earn the British filmmaker any new fans, but it should please Ritchie stans.
Ritchie regular Jason Statham stars as spy Orson Fortune, who’s commissioned by his handler Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes) to recover a McGuffin device being sold by sleazy arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant), which will allow the buyer to launch nukes on a whim. Assisting Fortune in his task are newly-acquired hacker Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza) and jack of all trades protégé JJ Davies (Bugzy Malone). Turns out Simmonds has a hardcore man crush on action star Danny Franscesco (Josh Hartnett), so the team blackmails the actor into participating in their operation to gain access to the gunrunner.
“Operation Fortune” is the fifth collaboration between Ritchie and Statham and it’s a lesser effort for the two – only besting the pretentiously masturbatory “Revolver.” That said, it’s still mostly a blast. It’s not as stylish as many of Ritchie’s other offerings (save for a series of POV shots of Statham from his machine gun’s perspective, which call to mind 2005’s dire “Doom” adaptation and Spike Lee’s signature double dollies … I easily could’ve watched two hours of this alone).
Where the movie succeeds is in its scripting (Ritchie teams with writers Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies for the third time with a fourth team-up (“The Covenant”) hitting theaters next month) and acting. The dialogue is prototypically pithy of a Ritchie joint and the actors make a meal out of these bon mots. Statham does his standard stoic smartass shtick. Elwes, certainly not looking 36 years removed from “The Princess Bride,” looks great and has a fun, easy chemistry with Statham. Malone has a charmingly cool presence. Hartnett makes Franscesco a himbo with a heart of silver or bronze as opposed to gold due to the character’s indiscretions.
Grant and Plaza are the picture’s standouts from a performance standpoint. I hope Ritchie continues to cast Grant as a scumbag after “The Gentlemen” and this. Grant further separates himself from the stammering, foppish persona that gained him fame by playing another fast-talking sleazeball. A monologue given by Grant during the film’s conclusion is one for the time capsule. Plaza is equal parts funny and sexy here and completely believable in action. I’d watch 10 more espionage movies where she’s the smartest person in the room who just so happens to incessantly smart off to her lessers.
“Operation Fortune” is probably 10 to 15 minutes too long, but it’s cheeky enough to make for a fun romp that pish poshes Bond and takes the piss out of “Mission: Impossible.” It leaves itself open for a sequel and I’m certainly down.