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The Gentlemen | 2020 | R | – 5.8.10

content-ratingsWhy is “The Gentlemen” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence, language throughout, sexual references and drug content.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of sexual allusions between a husband and his wife and an implied sex scene, a man makes several sexual references toward another man, an implied sexual encounter between a man and a pig, a reported sex scandal of a political official, a calendar featuring a fully nude man, and a few cleavage revealing outfits; many scenes of violence and arguments that sometimes end with gunfire or other acts of violence with several dead bodies (some blood is visible), an attempted rape, and threats of violence; several scenes of drug use (marijuana and heroin) and discussion of drug manufacture and distribution; and over 100 F-words and its derivatives and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”


A man (Matthew McConaughey) with a lucrative marijuana growing and distribution business is preparing to sell and retire, but runs into some unexpected complications that threaten his future prospects. Also with Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Lyne Renee, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Lord George, Chidi Ajufo, Hugh Grant, Simon. R. Barker, Eddie Marsan and Jason Wong. Directed by Guy Ritchie. [Running Time: 1:53]

The Gentlemen SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A wife moves close to her husband and traces her finger down his chest and abdomen before grabbing his clothed crotch and squeezing; the husband asks if there’s “Any chance?” and the wife leaves the room. A wife stands in the door of her office wearing a mini skirt that reveals her legs to the upper thighs as her husband sits on a sofa and they look at each other for an extended period, until he asks, “Any chance?” and she closes the door behind her (sex is implied). A man touches another man’s knee until the second man glares at him and he removes his hand. A man unfastens his pants (we do not see flesh) preparing to rape a woman when he is shot and presumably killed (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
 Several men surround another man and throw him into the back of a van where he wakes up dirty and covered with a blanket (we see his bare shoulders and we understand that he is nude) and it is implied that he had been drugged and a man tells him to watch a video of what he did with a large pig the night before (we hear a pig squealing as the video plays off-screen and it’s implied that there was a sex act).
 A man makes several suggestive remarks to another man, including asking if he can join him in bed. A narrator talks about a man and we see newspaper headlines about him having been caught in a sexual situation with another man. A man tells another man, “You’d make a lovely wife.” A man tells another man, “Don’t flirt with me.” A man calls another man “Darling” a few times. A reference is made to “Fight Porn.”
 A calendar is shown hanging on the wall of a woman’s office with a picture of a nude man on the open page (it is in the background but his bare chest, abdomen and genitals appear visible very briefly and obscured in shadow). A couple of women are shown wearing short skirts that reveal their bare legs to their upper thighs. A few women wear low-cut tops that reveal cleavage in a few scenes. People in drug processing labs are shown shirtless (we see men’s bare chests and abdomens and backs).

The Gentlemen VIOLENCE/GORE 8

 – Two men discuss a drug business deal at a table and one man becomes threatening toward the other until the second man shoots the first man in the crotch (a gun is under the table) and the injured man falls off the chair and pulls himself along the floor moaning (we don’t see blood); another man in the room is shot in the head and we see the bloody wound and blood on the wall behind him as the man with the gun stands over the first wounded man, yells at him and shoots toward him (it’s implied that he is killed).
 Three men enter a woman’s office and threaten her until she draws a gun and threatens to shoot them; the men move toward her and she shoots two men between the eyes (we see bloody bullet holes and the men fall dead to the floor); the third man fights with the woman and throws her into a wall and the desk and slams her over on the desk as he unfastens his pants to rape her (we do not see flesh) until he is shot three times and presumably killed (blood splatters on the woman’s face). A man in a bar sits at a table and another man with a gun stands behind him and blood splatters on a glass on the table and into a beer (we see this scene several times). A man walks past another man and the second man shoots him in the back of the head (blood sprays); a third man urinates on the dead man’s back (we see the urine stream). We hear gunfire after seeing two armed men enter a man’s property; two men are shot in a man’s house and we see blood on their wounds and the ground where they fell. Several young men in a van open the back doors and fire into a vehicle killing the driver and the passenger (we see them recoil from the bullets) and a third man in the back seat is not shown (it’s not clear if he was struck).
 A man splattered with blood (presumably someone else’s) is held on the ground with a machete to his neck and we see blood on the machete (it is implied that someone else has been injured or killed). Several men wearing stocking cap masks break into an underground marijuana farm and are surrounded by several men inside that prepare to fight them; we later see the fight and men are punched and kicked and slammed on the ground and tables and one man is shown with a bruised eye. Boys approach a fast food restaurant counter and prepare to order when a man standing next to them tells them to wait their turn; the boys mock him and they argue briefly until one boy draws a knife and lunges toward the man, the man knocks the knife out of his hand, another lunges for the man and the man sprays him in the face with vinegar and the boy yells. A man prepares to light a cigarette and another man tells him not to; the first man flicks his lighter and the second man lunges toward him before he stops. Men try to negotiate a deal with another man and threaten him in several scenes throughout the movie. As a man narrates another man’s youth, we see the second man selling marijuana to college students.
 Two men break an apartment door open and find several people inside doing drugs and smoking cigarettes; they argue as one man tries to convince a young woman to leave with the man so that he can take her back home and as they leave one young man lunges at a man who hits him in the face and tells him that if he tries that again he’ll cut his arm off, another young man hits one of the first two men in the back with a hammer and they fight briefly before the man pushes the young man and he falls over the balcony and several floors down to the ground below (we see this a few times and we hear a loud thud and squish as he hits the ground). A man with tape on his mouth, wrists and ankles is seen in the trunk of a car; he is pulled out of the trunk and two men talk to him while one slaps him in the face a couple of times and the captive man breaks away and runs, and jumps over a wall and onto train tracks, where he is struck by a train (we do not see the result but we hear the man scream). A young woman cooks heroin and we see a needle implying that she has injected herself; she is then seen stumbling outside and collapsing to her knees, where she presumably dies as her father kneels next to her crying.
 Two men speed in a car through streets until they are struck by a speeding truck and their car is flipped (we see one man pull himself out of the wreckage and run away with some blood on his head and face). A man chases a teen boy trying to get his phone and the boy ends up in an area where several other boys and young men threaten the man; one young man draws a machete and moves toward the man who pulls out an automatic weapon and fires it into the air while yelling and all of the others but one run away. A man chases a boy who is riding a bicycle and as the boy gets away another man in a car opens the door and the boy slams into it and falls on the ground.
 A man shoots an automatic weapon into the air and yells. A man holds a gun to another man’s head. Several people are shown in a drug-processing lab and they run out as another man sets it on fire. Several men surround another man and throw him into the back of a van where he wakes up dirty and covered with a blanket and it is implied that he had been drugged (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details). A man threatens another man stating he will put him in a large freezer container and extract a “pound of flesh,” as he hands a boning knife to another man. We hear a man talking from inside a large trunk (we see him running away later).
 A man talks about his business of producing and selling marijuana compared to another man’s business of distributing cocaine and heroin; he says that the other man’s business sells poison that kills people. A couple of references to “blood and feathers everywhere” are made. A man refers to having “blood on these pretty white hands.” A man talks about, “The laws of the jungle.” We hear a story about a man putting “5 bullets in a man’s head.” A reference is made to “Fight Porn.” A man gives another man a gift of a small decorative gun with several bullets and they discuss guns being illegal in England. A man talks about his daughter having gone missing (there is an implication of heroin addiction). Two men talk about “vices.” A man talks about cocaine and heroin distribution being a “destroyer of worlds.” A man threatens another man and tells him, “My Mossad crabs will eat you.”
 After a man drinks some tea his stomach gurgles and he projectile vomits across a table twice (we see the spray and we see chunks and goo in his beard and on the table); we understand that the tea was spiked with a chemical that will kill the man unless he takes an antidote. A dead and frozen young man is shown in a chest freezer a few times and in a later scene is carried out wrapped in plastic by two other men. A dead frozen man is shown tied with a rope and his flesh is blue-tinged. A man scratches his clothed buttock in an office.
 A man extends his hand to another man at a party and when the second man does not take it, there is a conversation about disrespect and the man feeling snubbed by the act. A man touches a metal handle on a fireplace and recoils from the heat.

The Gentlemen LANGUAGE 10

 – About 102 F-words and its derivatives, a man’s name is Phuk and is pronounced like the F-word by two other men, 2 obscene hand gestures, 12 sexual references, 16 scatological terms, 30 anatomical terms, 1 mild obscenity, 4 derogatory references to black people, a derogatory reference to a Pakistani person, a few derogatory references to a Jewish person, name-calling (filth, clever but poor, ruthless, naughty, cowboy, geezer, chaps, weakness, messy, old, mysterious, slightly menacing, disappointing filth, soppy [anatomical term deleted], stupid, junkie, slimy skint, toff, gypsy, Dry Eyes, Big Dave, Chinaman, Billy Big [anatomical term deleted], Johnny Law, idiot, gangster, filthy fantasist, sticky bush, jokers, dirty dragon, little anomaly, teddy bears, naïve, little dragon, disaster, greedy, toad, fat posh, little girl, alpha dogs, gay-Lord, terrible beast), exclamations (blimey), 6 religious exclamations (e.g. Thank God, Oh My God, God’s Green Earth, Jesus, Good Lord). | profanity glossary |

The Gentlemen SUBSTANCE USE

 – As a man narrates another man’s youth we see the second man selling marijuana to college students, a man talks about his business of producing and selling marijuana compared to another man’s business of distributing cocaine and heroin, a man tells another man how and where he grows his marijuana crop, we see a large underground greenhouse where many marijuana plants are being cultivated and grown, men are shown smoking marijuana in several scenes, a man rolls a marijuana cigarette and smokes it, a reference is made to a young man having tracks on his arms, a young woman/teen girl cooks heroin and we see a needle implying that she has injected herself (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), a man talks about caffeine being a drug, and evidence of drug use is seen in an apartment where several young adults are gathered. A man orders a pint of beer in a bar and we see him take a sip, empty beer bottles are seen on tables in an apartment, glasses of wine are shown on a table at a dinner, and two men drink several glasses of whisky each throughout several scenes). Men smoke cigars in a few scenes, and several people in an apartment smoke cigarettes.

The Gentlemen DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Drug dealing, the legalization of marijuana, doubt, chaos, innovation, prohibition, gentrification, rape, weakness, retirement, squalor, white guilt, the Mossad.

The Gentlemen MESSAGE

 – The drug business is a dangerous and violent game; but business is business.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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