Out for a Spot of a Bother

Guy Ritchie has a particular directorial style that suits the kinds of movies he likes to make. His feature film career started with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, a fun, street-level English caper film that worked so much better than anyone could have expected. He followed this up with Snatch, another street-level English caper film that absolutely played to his storytelling strengths. And, at that point, his style was pretty much set. If you knew Ritchie was doing some kind of caper film, then you also knew you were likely in for a good time.

Some of his best films (including his first two) fit that mold. Revolver, RocknRolla, The Man from UNCLE (a personal favorite of mine), and The Gentlemen all play within the genre and vibes that Ritchie has perfected. His worst films, by contrast, are the ones that absolutely don’t play to his strengths. He’s directed a romantic comedy (Swept Away) and a historical fantasy (King Arthur), and both of those were pretty tragic. The films that seem outside his wheelhouse that did work (like both Sherlock HolmesOften cited as the world's greatest (fictional) detective, this character was introduced in 1887 (in A Study in Scarlet) and has gone on to appear in hundreds of stories, films, shows, and more. films and 2019’s Aladdin) still functionally work as capers and play to his strengths as a director (and, arguably, these are still weaker entries for the director). The director knows what he’s good at and tends to wrap his works around himself.

Unfortunately, while the director has works that play to his strengths, and end up being beloved by his fans, those same films are also the ones that don’t tend to do well in theaters. Where the Sherlock and Aladdin movies did huge bank at the Box Office, his other movies have been less successful. The Man from UNCLE is a gorgeous, fun movie that, sadly, made only $110 Mil against its $75 Mil budget, a bomb by Hollywood’s standard. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre wilted at the box office bringing in $49 Mil against its $50 Mil budget. And then, in 2024, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, another slick and spicy period piece caper film from the director, completely failed to get attention, making a positively anemic $27.1 Mil against its $60 Mil budget. Quite a fall for the director who managed to snag over a Billion with his Disney adaptation.

So what caused The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare to crash and burn at the Box Office? Some of the factors are easy to predict. It’s a hyper-violent film with a hard-R rating, and that limits who can see it. It’s a period piece focusing on a little known story of World War II, not featuring a conflict that the Americans took part in, and if we’re being honest, Americans care about war stories where American soldiers were present. I think, though, that the biggest factor is that the tastes of audiences have changed since COVID and the whole of the theatrical experience is still resetting and shifting. The film came out in April, a month before The Fall Guy, another film that seemed like it should have been a slam dunk that, instead, barely squeaked through at the Box Office at all.

It’s taken a long time for audiences to start coming back to theaters, and even then it’s only for sequels and continuations of franchises that they already know and love. Inside Out 2 has made over a Billion (and, as of the time of this writing, is still going). Bad Boys: Ride of Die, had a successful debut as well. But original, lesser known films have to have a brand attached (Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, anything Despicable Me) or a known director with a cult-like following (Oppenheimer) to be able to get through the Box Office. Sequels rein and, in that climate, anything else struggles to survive.

It’s not like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was a particularly expensive movie. For a period piece, with solid direction and good quality to its production, it “only” cost $60 Mil (which is pretty cheap by Hollywood’s standards). In a different era, at a different time, it would be easy to think that this could have been a big hit worldwide, at least doing well enough to make $250 to $300 Mil. We might get back there at some point, but we’re not in that place right now for Hollywood productions.

It’s surprising to see that it did so poorly because, frankly, the film is really good. It’s not a perfect movie, but it is a fun caper film that knows what it wants to do and has an enjoyable time going through its setup and payoff. It reminds me a lot of The Man from UNCLE, in fact (which also struggled in theaters, as we noted), which leads me to think that even though this film didn’t succeed originally it will find its audience on streaming. I would say it would find its audience on home video but, well, that market is dying. I might have bought my copy of the film on BluRay, but most people won’t at this point.

Whether you buy it or find it on streaming, though, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a good time. It focuses on a team of five men – Hero Fiennes Tiffin as navigator Henry Hayes, Henry Golding as explosive expert Freddy Alvarez, Alan Ritchson as hitter Anders Lassen, Alex Pettyfer as intelligence officer Geoffrey Appleyard, all led by Henry Cavill as thief and conman Gus March-Phillipps – sent to the coast of Africa to blow up the ships that will restock and refuel the German U-Boat navy blockading the Atlantic Ocean. If they can get in and blow up the ships then the Americans could join the war effort, turning the tide of battle in Europe.

While these men head off to sail to Africa (disguised as a little Swedish fishing boat), two other intelligence officers – Eiza González as Marjorie Stewart and Babs Olusanmokun as Heron – are in deep in the port town to lay the groundwork for the men being able to come in and do their work. Heron runs the local bar and casino and he can distract the German soldiers with drinking and merriment at his clubs, while Marjorie has to get in good with the German commander, Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger), so that he doesn’t notice what’s going on under his watch. If they succeed, they will have aided Churchill and helped win the war. If they fail, no one will even come to claim their bodies.

The basic facts of the story for this film are, in fact, true, although naturally the film takes a fair number of liberties. It’s a funny, gory, very violent film that does, at times, seem to enjoy (and maybe even glorify) the violence on screen. Despite it telling a story based on history, it doesn’t really get into the evils of war or the horrors of violence. It wants to be a hyper-violent caper, one that you can enjoy for its various bloody delights, without ever having to truly turn your brain on. Naturally, this isn’t for everyone, but it did work for me (and for my wife, who was laughing along with me throughout the film).

The film is largely carried by the affable presence of Henry Cavill. The actor has worked with Ritchie before, starring in The Man from UNCLE, and he brings that same suave, slick, smarmy attitude that he had in that film as Napoleon Solo to his performance as March-Phillips here. I actually think that without Cavill in the lead, this film wouldn’t work nearly as well. You need someone that can play this kind of delightful asshole, one that is happy to steal and lie and shoot his way through problems. Cavill pulls it off.

In fact, I’d say the whole stacked cast really does a great job in this film. They get into their roles and have a great time with their performances. None of the stars are doing nuanced work, but then this isn’t a nuanced movie. It’s blunt and bloody as Ritchie wanted it to be. If you want a war film that goes deeper on tragedy and the horrors of war, you have to look to a different director, like Christopher Nolan and Dunkirk. This is not that kind of film and I think it’s more enjoyable for it.

But again, this movie is not for everyone. It’s a different kind of war epic, one more focused on fun than fact. If you go in expecting a Guy Ritchie movie you won’t be disappointed. Expect to have a good time, just don’t expect to learn any history along the way.