| EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Guy Ritchie on Revolver | |||
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| Briefly enticing the occasional director of hyperkinetic gangster flicks away from the time-consuming responsibility of making sure that his wife's orphan acquisitions aren't repossessed by any disillusioned biological family members while she's out shopping with the promise of some cocktails at the Sunset Marquis bar, the Sunday NY Times spent a fascinating "Night Out With" Madonna househusband Guy Ritchie, an encounter which began with Ritchie demonstrating his martial arts skills to an impressed reporter: | |||
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| STAY FOCUSED Guy Ritchie, the director, shown with his friend Bobby Rich, bottom, in a jujitsu class in Beverly Hills. | |||
| "What's so great about this," Mr. Ritchie said later, "is that with the right technique, the little guy can overpower someone bigger than himself." | |||
It’s
not exactly his theme song, but the implications of a little guy
beating the odds still applies to the nimble filmmaker. Mr. Ritchie
was a 30-year-old high-school dropout with severe dyslexia when
he won international attention for his first directorial effort,
the self-aware crime caper “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”
He had a son with Madonna and married her, and wrote and directed
a second film, “Snatch,” that featured Brad Pitt. His
remake of “Swept Away” starring Madonna (whom he speaks
of simply as “my wife”) was widely panned, but Mr. Ritchie
is hoping that his film “Revolver,” opening in the United
States this week, will improve his standing with American audiences. |
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| At 8:30 p.m., with class over, Mr. Ritchie and a friend, Bobby Rich, chugged water from paper cups at the water cooler. Both agreed that jujitsu forced them to concentrate in ways that, say, tennis does not. | |||
| “Here, if your thoughts stray,” Mr. Ritchie said, “you get choked.” | |||
| A few minutes later, Mr. Ritchie, who has as much of a five o’clock shadow as a blond man can claim, reappeared. He was dressed as if all his other clothes were in the laundry, wearing a black polo shirt, baggy blue Mao-style pants and brown-and-white sneakers. He and Mr. Rich drove over to the Sunset Marquis, a West Hollywood rock-and-roll hotel so established, it has its own recording studio. | |||
In
the Marquis’s softly lighted Whiskey Bar, they sat at a low
table with James Herbert, an editor of “Revolver,” and
noticed Cyndi Lauper seated at the bar with some friends. |
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| How weird do you think it must be to be a rock star?” Mr. Ritchie asked, as if to establish his regular-guy credentials. | |||
| Neither of his friends answered. After a waitress took drink orders, Mr. Ritchie leaned over the table to whisper something. | |||
| “I’m so glad we’re here,” he said with glee. “I never go out.” Why not? “Because I’m married,” he said. With a laugh, he added, “Oh, no, it’s because I have kids.” | |||
About
five or six rounds later, as Slash, the top-hatted lead guitarist
of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, sauntered in, Mr. Ritchie
was discussing how he now enjoyed “the toffee side of English
life.” It was a far cry from when he was “encouraged
to leave” boarding school at 15 for smoking cocaine sulfate. |
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Now
he had just one obstacle left to overcome: his fear of horseback
riding. |
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“My wife refuses to go horseback riding with me because I’m
too slow,” he said. “I get on the horse. I get dry mouth.
And if I’m lucky, I trot. I’m hoping in the next few
years that I can speed up to a canter.” |
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| Source: NY Times by Jamie Diamond / Photo: Stephanie Diani / 12. 2. 2007 |
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Director:
Guy Ritchie |
Writers:
Luc Besson (adaptation) Guy Ritchie (written by) |
Jake
Green is a hotshot gambler, long on audacity and short on common
sense. He's rarely allowed to play in any casino because he is a
winner. Jake has taken in so much money over the years, he is the
only client of his accountant and older brother Billy. One night,
Jake, Billy and their other brother Joe are invited to sit in on
a private game, where Jake is expected to lose to Dorothy Macha,
a crime boss and local casino owner who can't play for squat, but
always wins because people are too scared to beat him. Jake isn't
afraid of Macha, and not only beats Dorothy in a quick game of chance,
but takes every possible opportunity to insult the man. Jake and
his brothers leave the game, and Macha puts out the order for a
hit on Jake, who ends up working for and being protected by a pair
of brothers, Avi and Zack, who are out to take Macha down. Written
by Edward Havens |
Cast:
Jason Statham ... Jake Ray Liotta ... Macha Vincent Pastore ... Zach André Benjamin ... Avi Terence Maynard ... French Paul Andrew Howard ... Billy Mark Strong ... Sorter Francesca Annis ... Lily Walker Anjela Lauren Smith ... Doreen Elana Binysh ... Rachel Faruk Pruti ... Ivan (Billy's Bodyguard) Shend ... Teddy (Billy's Bodyguard) Bill Moody ... Al Stephen Walters ... Joe Vincent Riotta ... Benny |
Release Date: |
Genre:
Crime / Drama / Thriller |
Runtime:
115 min |
Country:
France / UK |
Language:
English / Cantonese |
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