Guy Ritchie’s stylish gangster series The Gentlemen is topping Netflix’s TV charts, and it’s not hard to see why. The show combines slick storytelling, engaging performances, and Ritchie’s signature blend of crime and comedy to entertaining effect.
A spin-off of the 2019 film of the same name, The Gentlemen follows former soldier Edward Horniman (Theo James), who unexpectedly inherits his family’s massive estate and the title of Duke of Halstead upon his father’s death. But Edward soon discovers his new position comes with some unsavory connections, namely crime kingpins the Glass family, who run a marijuana empire on the grounds of his estate. As Edward seeks to extricate himself and his family from the criminal underworld, he falls deeper into the gangster life.
Edward finds himself partnering with Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario), who runs the crime syndicate while her father Bobby (Ray Winstone) is in prison. While Edward is eager to renegotiate the Glass’s presence on his estate, he finds that he must rely on their connections when he learns that his louche older brother Freddy (Daniel Ings) owes the mob £8 million.
Edward and Susie secure the funds to bail out Freddy, but things go awry when a coked-up Freddy murders a high-level gangster. This kicks off a cover-up, which is only the beginning of Edward’s descent into the criminal world.
As I was watching The Gentlemen, I was struck by a feeling of familiarity. The series borrows heavily from Ritchie’s past work like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, complete with a Traveller crime family and a colorful cast of criminal personalities. We even get Ritchie MVP Vinnie Jones in the mix as the estate’s groundskeeper.
But what struck me most about the series was its similarity to another epic crime saga: Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto franchise. In case you’ve been living under a rock, GTA‘s open-world gameplay allows the player to take on the role of a criminal working their way up the ladder of organized crime. Players are given missions by criminal kingpins, mobsters, and various underworld figures that get more complicated as the game continues.
That is essentially what happens throughout The Gentlemen‘s first season: Edward must complete a series of criminal tasks, ranging from drug smuggling to money laundering to murder to secure his interests. The series even mimics the feeling of GTA‘s cutscenes, where flamboyant criminals lay out what they want Eddie to accomplish to further his goals. It’s surprising that, at this stage in his career, no one has asked Guy Ritchie to make a video game adaptation. If GTA ever makes it to the big screen, he’d be an inspired choice to direct.
This comparison is by no means a knock on the series. As a fan of both The Gentlemen and GTA, I think this structure works effectively for both franchises. Now, all I need is a reverse shot of Theo James saying “Oi bollocks, here we go again.”
(featured image: Netflix / Rockstar Games / Illustration by The Mary Sue)
