‘The Ungentlemanly Ministry of War’ review: A so-so Guy Ritchie movie

From left: Alex Pettyfer, Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Henry Golding in The Ungentlemanly Ministry of War.

Provided by Lionsgate

In the fascinating Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle of 2023 contract, Guy Ritchie moved away from the flashy action, glib humor, mash-up of period setting and modern attitude that had characterized many of his biggest commercial successes, and took a more serious dramatic direction. I took a turn. A typical Ritchie-esque ensemble of witty villains. Ministry of Ungentlemanly War The director sees himself returning to more conventional territory. In a sense. The film, which chronicles a secret World War II mission led by a group of rebels, veers off course, straddling an awkward position between a murky affair and a more gripping combat action thriller. There is.

Written by Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Arash Amer and Ritchie, and based on the non-fiction by war expert Damian Lewis, this remarkable story is based on the 2016 declassified Winston Churchill book. It is based on British War Office documents dating back to the first term of the government.

The film follows a semi-fictionalized secret special forces mission led by a maverick crew to neutralize a German U-boat crushing British forces in the North Atlantic. The port raid was conceived by Naval Intelligence, including Commodore Gubbins (Cary Elwes), codenamed “M”, and a young Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox), with the approval of Churchill (Rory Kinnear), and was carried out by the Postmaster. It was named “Operation”. ” However, the project was unauthorized, unsanctioned, and unofficial, and the recruits risked imprisonment if discovered by the British military or death if captured by the Nazis.

The plot alludes to high-stakes exploits and courage during wartime, which is what the titular action comedy depicts. However, Ritchie’s handling of this song is slow and lacks tension. It doesn’t help that nearly every Nazi the Postmaster team encounters and kills, and there are hordes of them, but they never pose much of a threat as they’re extremely clumsy and slow to react.

At times, it seems like the director is trying to achieve the kind of irreverence that Quentin Tarantino brought to World War II action. Inglourious Basterds. But even though the main actors seem convinced they’re having a fun adventure, Ritchie can never quite get the tone. The film moves along briskly enough over its two full hours, never boring but never terribly exciting, full of clever cracks that rarely come off.

The man chosen to lead the mission is Major Gus March Phillips, a noble-born eccentric who has been released early from prison. He’s played by Henry Cavill, sporting a spectacular handlebar mustache. Gus insists on choosing his own team, led by “Danish Hammer” Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), who is known for his skill with the bow and arrow, as well as knives, and even uses an ax in a frenzied scene.

Next up is Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), an Irish sailor who is an expert on navigation. Freddy “The Frogman” Alvarez (Henry Golding) is a demolition expert whose underwater stamina is invaluable in planting explosives to sink ships. and master planner Jeffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer). The latter requires a detour to help him escape from the Canary Islands garrison where he is being held by the Nazis.

The objective of the mission was to infiltrate the Spanish port of Fernando Pau off the coast of West Africa, destroy German attack boats, and sink the Italian ship Duquessa, which was carrying supplies and equipment vital to U-boat operations.

The Postmaster’s crew enlists the help of Richard Heron (Babuz Olusanmokun), a secret communications expert who runs a casino in the harbor. And talented actress Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) is tasked with seducing the hardened outpost commander Heinrich Ruhr (Til Schweiger), keeping him busy at a costume party in a casino where she meets his girlfriend. performs a vampy version of “Mack the Knife.”

Naturally, complications arise with the departure of Phillips and his friends, but there were no particularly difficult obstacles for the team. This means that what should have been a nail-biting operation seems like a no-brainer for the Merry Postmaster’s crew, and despite a fair number of explosions and gunfights, they are unable to escalate the conflict. , it all seems a little too easy for suspense to build or anything like that. Chris Benstead’s jazzy score further enhances the overall lighthearted atmosphere.

The cast acquits itself well enough, and Ritchson’s heroic nature in particular is happiest when wielding a deadly knife, but I can’t say I bought Gonzalez as a 1940s femme fatale with a knack for subterfuge. This character seems fantastical, even though Marjorie Stewart is one of the few characters based on a real person. The usually reliable Kinnear becomes a strangely ineffective Churchill, especially after Gary Oldman and John Lithgow’s deft impersonations. darkest hour and crownEach.

Cavill gets top pay and Gus is the central figure, but despite having the requisite charm and real nature, he never really stands out from the pack. That has more to do with a script with poorly defined characters than any flaws in the actors’ work. In the end credits summary, we learn that Phillips is considered a key figure on which Fleming based James Bond, although M is the more obvious inspiration for the series’ Director of Secret Service, who goes by the same initials. It’s a ration.

Shot in Turkey, the film looks okay, if not particularly striking, although the period details and costumes don’t necessarily scream 1940s. It’s moderately entertaining, with some interesting historical footnotes at its core, but the execution doesn’t maximize the story’s potential. It’s as if Ritchie admired the title of Lewis’s book (“Oh, classy and naughty at the same time, that’s my brand!”) but bends the content to suit his own style only half-heartedly. It was odd.