Special agent Orson Fortune and his team of operatives recruit one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars to help them on an undercover mission when the sale of a deadly new weapons technology threatens to disrupt the world order.
You never know what type of film you’ll get when Guy Ritchie is the director. From his breakout hit, the low-budget, ultra-violent “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” to his critically and commercially maligned stinker “Swept Away,” starring his then-wife Madonna, to the thoroughly enjoyable “Sherlock Holmes” and its sequel, to the stylistic but underperforming “The Man from U. N.C.L.E.” and “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,” he is most certainly a mixed bag of emotions and ideas. But that’s a good thing; it means he won’t allow himself to be pigeonholed into directing one particular type of film, something many directors probably wish they could avoid.
His last film, “Wrath of Man,” was a straight-up hard-hitting thriller starring Jason Statham and Scott Eastwood, brimming with brutality and savageness, but here, he tones down the destructiveness in favor of more humor and stylistic violence that is brief and then over with, instead of lingering on the bloodshed as he has done previously. This is what a James Bond film would look like if he didn’t take himself so seriously.
Statham plays Orson Fortune, an independent super-spy who works for Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes), a high-ranking member of the English government. When really bad people need to be taken care of, Orson and his crew, Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza), formerly of the C.I.A., and J.J. (Bugzy Malone), rush in where others fear to thread. It comes to light that English arms broker Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant) is trying to sell a device known as “The Handle” to the highest bidder for $10 billion. It is a deadly new weapons technology that could cripple the banking industry. Sarah learns that Greg is hosting a charity gala in Cannes, but getting an invite will be impossible. Enter Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett), one of the biggest movie stars in the world who happens to be Greg’s man crush. Sarah and Orson fly to Hollywood and blackmail Danny with video footage of him with his sister-in-law in compromising positions, and he agrees to accompany them.
After Danny is a hit at the gala, Greg invites him and Sarah (pretending to be a couple) to his luxurious villa in Turkey. While there, they are tasked with discovering as much as possible about Greg and his contacts. Sarah hacks Greg’s laptop and finds he has been talking to the Ukrainian mafia, who are interested in buying The Handle, but with every turn Orson and his crew make, a rival team of mercenaries, also interested in retrieving The Handle, manage to stay one step ahead of them. While Danny and Sarah keep Greg busy, Orson sneaks into the Ukrainian’s house, filling it with sleeping gas. He steals a hard drive that Sarah decrypts, and they learn who is behind The Handle and when the exchange will occur, but a face from Orson’s past appears and throws the entire operation into disarray.
“Operation Fortune” is 114 minutes of explosive action, laugh-out-loud witticisms, and engaging and likable characters, good and bad. While Statham still carries his ferocious and disapproving scowl, it is dialed way back, and he even manages to crack an occasional smile. Aubrey Plaza shines as the newcomer to the group that gives as good as she gets and delivers some of the movie’s funniest one-liners. Hugh Grant excels as the devious but likable Greg, while Cary Elwes brandishes a fun, somewhat credible English accent as the team’s handler, but Josh Hartnett steals the show here. He returns in top form after stepping away from the limelight for several years. While his Danny Francesco is the biggest action star in the world, and his persona can sometimes be brash and audacious, he imbues him with an almost childlike innocence when he is out of his comfort zone. Presenting a false front, he claims that he is preparing for a new role as a billionaire playboy-turned-humanitarian, and Greg excitedly states that he might as well be playing him and takes him under his wing as his protégé. Hartnett and Grant play wonderfully off each other, and I would pay to see a spinoff dedicated solely to these two characters.
Director Guy Ritchie takes us in and out of conventional, stereotypical scenarios; car chases, gunplay, and fights, and while they are nothing new, they are orchestrated with finesse and bursting with hilarious one-liners and, at times, physical comedy. Thankfully, Ritchie knows when to laugh and when to be solemn, which is why he is one of the best filmmakers around. “Operation Fortune” is terrific escapist fun; go see it and have a blast.
In Theaters Friday, March 3rd
