The Gentlemen

Netflix trailer: https://tinyurl.com/bdzah3kr

RottenTomatoes: 70% Critics/86% Audience

That's about right. Meaning this is an enjoyable watch, but it fails to be a classic, to resonate in a way that you want to tell everybody about it.

Then again, the hoi polloi love it, my inbox is overflowing with fans of this show.

So what you've got here is a crime drama. And those who live outside the law are so interesting, because they play by different rules. Oh, the concepts of leverage and footprint/power still remain, but there is no court, no arbitrator keeping everyone honest.

However, unlike in real life in these crime dramas many times the manipulators who stand up to the bullies/enemies continue to live, when in truth if you play this game you might not make it out alive, you may be cut down long before your kids grow up.

So what we've got is an English family with a huge estate and cash flow problems. The patriarch dies and...

The lead character, Eddie Horniman, played by Theo James, is good, but he's not long on personality.

Unlike his mother, Joely Richardson, who appears briefly at first, but then more and more. She appears to be a flighty nitwit but ultimately she is extremely savvy and a mother who knows what is going on with all of her children. Ultimately, you want to see more and more of her.

Unlike her son, Freddy. Who's akin to Fredo in the "Godfather." Part of the family, but treated badly because he's not smart enough and worldly enough to know what is going on and is constantly screwing up. Unfortunately, there are many analogues in the world today. Especially rich, overlooked progeny, spending and messing up. But Freddy is too much of a one note character. You get sick of him.

But not Susie... Kaya Scodelario is one of those thirtysomething actresses you think you've seen before but probably have not. She's the star of the show, without chewing up the scenery. She's true to character. And she never breaks character, which is the case in most of these shows. You know, the gangster woman softens up, falls in love and loses her mind. Not Susie!

And not her father, cult actor Ray Winstone. Who is excellent as usual. He owns the character of the big boss.

And the head of the travelers. That guy is great. As is the Asian lady who sells the exotic automobiles.

So every episode there's a caper, a situation that has to be resolved. It gets predictable. Then again, the solution is always interesting.

But the show is too often dry. You're watching it as opposed to being involved in it. You admire the construction, the writing, but you are not on the edge of your seat, invested in the life of any of the characters.

It's akin to watching a puzzle.

Nowhere near in the league of "The Bureau." Why do I keep mentioning this French series? Because it plays like a big screen movie, you feel the tension, your mind never wanders, you're invested.

Like in the Israeli blueprint for "Homeland," "Prisoners of War," which has little production but is so gripping, so tense.

As is "Fauda" oftentimes. But Doron is three-dimensional in a way that Edward Horniman is not.

I was never taken away by "The Gentlemen," never suspended disbelief.

I guess I'm just the antidote to the buzz. I don't want you to watch this and even expect "Narcos." It's well put-together, and edgy, I admire it, but I didn't love it. I enjoyed seeing it, I don't want my time back, but if I'm going to recommend a streaming series, "The Gentlemen" would be nowhere near the top of the list. In other words, you're on your own.

But you won't hate it. You'll want to watch it. To marinate in the above-referenced performances and to find out how it all works out.

But somehow the directors/creators/scriptwriters/actors saw this more as math than something fuzzier.

Yet once again, I looked forward to watching it every night, but I wasn't enraptured.


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