Revolver

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

Poor Guy Ritchie. After reinvigorating the British gangster genre with his blood-and-slang-drenched tour de forces Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, he tried to branch out with Swept Away—a romantic comedy starring his wife, Madonna—and bombed like a B-52. His loss is our gain, as he returns with a more cerebral take on his specialty, gangster flicks, a psychological thriller that focuses a bit more on the psycho than the logical for its own good. But who says everything has to make sense when you're just trying to blow a few brains out? This electrifying, if intentionally confusing, mob job stars Jason Statham and is full of great visual style and a wry tone most foreign critics (who panned the flick when it came out two years ago in the U.K.) didn't get. For the U.S. release several minutes have been cut to uh…clarify certain story points, but don't worry you'll still probably need to pick up a copy of Revolver for Dummies just to figure out WTF is going on. Statham plays a former gambler who spent his 7-year prison stint developing the ultimate con. After publicly humiliating the crooked casino boss who put him there (Ray Liotta, who should consider sit-ups next time his role requires a Speedo), Statham winds up with a target on his back. In the meantime, the goons hired to protect Statham (Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore and OutKast member Andre Benjamin) set out to knock off Liotta. The ultimate death match is about to take place, but who's conning whom? At first it all seems fairly obvious, but Ritchie throws a wrench into the works halfway through that will literally mess with your mind. Statham has never been better, Pastore is born to play these roles, and Benjamin's got real acting chops (who knew?). Even though it's riddled with bumper-sticker psychology and predictable action, we forgive Madge's hubby. Until Swept Away 2.