Espionage films can be dramatic and suspenseful, or comic and silly.  Both approaches work; many classics have resulted.  And of course they can be combined, with various levels of success.  A few of the James Bond adventures approach the level of camp, and suffer for it.  Spoofs like the Derek Flint duo or even Rowan Atkinson’s “Johnny English” trilogy have more success.  But modern directors like Guy Ritchie seem to want the best of both sides; Ritchie wants the international settings, glamorous characters, high-powered technology and large scale menace of the epic espionage genre, yet he also wants to spoof it, poke fun at it and slyly let the audience realize that he is in on the jokes.  And yet he also wants the stakes to remain high, so he kills henchmen and bystanders alike, brutally and without regard to their circumstance, to give his spoofery a deadly gravitas.  It just doesn’t all mix very well.

Guy Ritchie’s film sends British agent Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) on an assignment to learn what fancy yet secretive society mogul Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant) is trying to sell on the black market, something that people are being killed for.  Fortune recruits a new team to help him, including a sexy computer expert (Aubrey Plaza), a communications expert (Bugzy Malone) and a world famous actor (Josh Hartnett).  It’s a new team because members of his old team have defected and seem to be searching for the same secrets, but for someone else.  Their adventure crosses oceans, involves much sneakery and trickery, and, eventually, some decently staged action.  But mostly it is banter and exposition, more banter and implausible story developments and Hugh Grant acting rings around everyone else.

I’m not a big fan of Guy Ritchie’s oeuvre, especially over the last decade or so — because so much of it seems artificial and repetitive, often covering the same ground again and again — even though some of it is certainly worthwhile.  But one thing he has done really well is to rejuvenate Hugh Grant’s career.  As both writer and director he has provided Hugh Grant with memorable roles to play and then presented him to the highest advantage.  Compare the Grant of the droll British dramas and ditzy romantic comedies of the past with the sleek, multi-dimensional criminals he has played in The Gentlemen and this film and it’s difficult to believe it’s the same guy.  Good for both of them.

I found Operation Fortune to be stylized mediocrity in terms of the story it tells and what it does with the basic material.  We’ve seen it all before, and in better capers.  But if you want to see Hugh Grant strut his stuff, or Josh Hartnett convincingly portray an insecure actor, or Aubrey Plaza be sexy in a story that has no need for a sexy computer expert, you may not be disappointed.  If you want more than that out of a movie, you should probably tune in to something else.  ☆ ☆.  31 August 2024.