IR Film Review: OPERATION FORTUNE - RUSE DE GUERRE [Lionsgate]
The context of a would be heist/spy thriller all reflects in the tone of a film. Guy Ritchie has always been great at balancing the aspect of big budget with scrappy independent-feel pieces. With "Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre", he finds the best balance so far because the approach is both humorous, dynamic, fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. However it still adheres to Ritchie's style but with a bit wider canvas than usual for this scale of film. This specific picture also has a built in franchise potential. Oddly enough it stayed on the shelf for a variety of reasons (one being that its initial distributor STX folded per se). While this would have worked on a streaming platform, it is a nice film with its locations in Turkey to see on the big screen.
"Ruse de Guerre" feels old school while still giving a nod to today. Not everything needs to be technobabble but the reason this works is because of the balance between the characters especially Orson Fortune (Jason Statham), Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza) and Nathan (Cary Elwes). This is the first time in a while we have seen the Elwes swagger (Wesley fans beware) while understanding the tongue in cheek element that Ritchie always can use to knock the wind out of characters' sails. Plaza's strengths with sarcasm but also the ability to play up against her beauty serve this character well though it does take a scene or two to settle into the rhythm she is playing with One sequence in a villa where she leads Statham remotely through a maze of sorts is great for its almost ode to the Mia Wallace household scene in "Pulp Fiction" as well as a " Butch & Sundance" homage (Burt Bacharach as well) that just feels right. There is a lyrical and yet unforced element in it which both filters in the character work, the cinematic element and the humor.
The other character work scene between the bad guys (save for Fortune rival Mike -- played by Peter Ferdinando who almost looks like a scruffy Scott Speedman) can be a little cartoonish with Josh Hartnett playing against/with type as a movie star who is out of his element when he has to assume the real mantle of the world. It is too bad Hartnett is not as responsive in the scenes to Plaza who can turn the sultry and sardonic on and off because she knows the BS of it. They are slightly off balance to be believable but that is part of the game. Bugzy Malone plays JJ who is cool and collected with just the barest glint of humor that lets the audience know he gets it all. Lastly is Hugh Grant as Simmonds, a dark figure who Grant plays with a lightness and a vicious streak (which we saw in "The Gentlemen" but is much more playful here).
However when the movie reaches towards a certain pinnacle, the scale of a certain scene feels very big and vaults his intention (even as it is done for humor). The trick of it and the strategy of what is actually being done is never explained but it gets the point across while displaying scale that sometimes is hard to achieve in this size of film. "Operation Fortune" could be spun off into a variety of movies that would be great, but the amount of promotion might limit the possibility and its success in the current marketplace. That said, "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" is a bunch of fun with the right amount of humor, style, scale and action for a great experience at the cinema. A-
By Tim Wassberg
