DVD: RocknRolla lacks rock

While I am a huge fan of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, Guy Ritchie's new-to-DVD and latest release RocknRolla falls short of my expectations.

The very cover of the DVD and the opening sequence of the film feature a promise of sex, violence and gun-play, with an image of a dual-wielding gunslinger looking like he belongs with the Tremor brothers from Smokin' Aces. Alas, this is just the drugged out, scrawny rocker who weighs a buck twenty and is about as intimidating as Seamus O'Grady from Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

While an action film needn't be violent for me to like it, when there's that expectation, and when there's not even a shot fired until more than an hour of the movie has passed, my expectations aren't being met.

Sure, there were some decent action sequences, often as flashbacks, but ultimately much of what is being built up - the clash between the Russians and the Brits, the accountant getting her comeuppance - all took place off-screen. While that's typical Ritchie, since Snatch is done in much the same fashion, in Rolla, it feels like it's just to move things alone or wrap up loose ends, not to better the film.

And lovable dad-type Tom Wilkinson, while a fine actor, doesn't hold a candle to the fearsome mob boss Brick Top from Snatch, just as - despite being a very likable character - Gerard Butler is no Turkish.

Perhaps it's not so much the lack of action that turned me off, but the combination of acting that feels a little rushed, like there weren't enough takes, too little direction, or simply hurried along. This comes through in several places that probably could have used one more pass on the editor's chopping block.

The music is excellent, as are many of the visuals, but Rolla otherwise disappoints and certainly doesn't live up to the very generous IMDb score of 7.4. Had I seen this in the theater based on that rating, I would have left quite unhappy.