Guy Ritchie

Ritchie directed a 20-minute short film in 1995 entitled The Hard Case. His first full-length feature was the successful Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels in 1998. He was introduced to Madonna when the soundtrack to "Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels" was issued on her Maverick Records label. Recalling Quentin Tarantino, The Sting and The Italian Job[according to whom?], the film introduced actor Jason Statham (The Transporter) to worldwide audiences, and introduced former footballer Vinnie Jones to a new career as a film star. In 2000 Ritchie won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Ritchie created and produced a spin-off television series called Lock, Stock....[9]
His second feature film was Snatch, released in the year 2000. Originally known as Diamonds, it was another caper comedy, this time backed by a major studio following the previous success of Lock, Stock[citation needed]. The cast featured such Hollywood big names as Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro and Dennis Farina, along with the returning Vinnie Jones and Statham. Similar to "Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels" in featuring a complex and inventive storyline in which the characters weave in and out of each others' lives, the film also plays with time, depicting events from various perspectives. It currently has a rating of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes, being widely viewed[according to whom?] as too similar to his debut in both thematic content and performance, with Roger Ebert noting: "I don't care if he returns to the kind of material that worked for him the first time around. I just want him to get organized, to find the through line, to figure out why we would want to see the movie for more than its technique."


Ritchie at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008.
Ritchie accompanied Madonna to the debuts of her film Sex Is The Best Thing and album Music. Following his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie began focusing his filmmaking on his famous wife, directing her in both a music video (for the song "What It Feels Like for a Girl," a controversial video that showed Madonna engaging in violent behaviour, ostensibly directed at men, including T-boning a car with three men in it, tasering and robbing a man at an ATM, scratching a police car and shooting two officers with a water gun, driving her car through a group of men playing street hockey and incinerating a man by throwing a lighter into a pool of gasoline) and a short film, "Star", for the BMW films series. Ritchie's next film, also featuring Madonna, was a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmüller hit Swept Away (also entitled Swept Away). Ritchie cast Madonna as a rich, rude, socialite who, after a shipwreck, is trapped on a deserted island with a slovenly Communist sailor who humiliates her. Ritchie renamed the woman Amber Leighton after his mother. This film was both a critical and commercial disappointment. He later accompanied Madonna to the debuts of her films Die Another Day, I'm Going To Tell You A Secret, Arthur and the Invisibles, and I Am Because We Are, as well as her West End play debut in Up for Grabs. Madonna supported her husband by attending the debuts of Ritchie's films Snatch, Revolver, and RocknRolla.
Ritchie's next project was a Vegas-themed heist film entitled Revolver, which was critically panned in the US and UK.[10][11] It was however a underground success in Germany, where it was released very late, as a straight-to-DVD release.
Another project Guy Ritchie was involved with was a hidden camera show called Swag, for channel Five in the UK, which turned the table on criminals and opportunists by using stunts to trap them in the act.
Ritchie has also written and directed RocknRolla starring Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Gerard Butler, Tom Hardy, Jeremy Piven, Thandie Newton, and Tom Wilkinson.[12] Ritchie will also direct a film based on a comic book series he created with Virgin Comics entitled Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper. The film rights were acquired by Warner Brothers in July 2007. The film's being produced by Silver Pictures.[13]
In 2008, Ritchie directed a commercial for Nike called "Take It To The Next Level", about a young Dutch footballer who signs for Arsenal, showing the progression of his career from his viewpoint, until he makes his debut for the Netherlands. The commercial features cameo appearances from some football players with music by Eagles of Death Metal.[14]
Guy's latest movie, Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, mAde its theatrical release on December 25th, 2009. The film received generally positive reviews[15] and grossed more that $460 million worldwide[16], becoming Ritchie's most successful film financially.[17]



News | What members say | Filmography

Guy Ritchie - news / articles

Guy Ritchie - what members say

Guy Ritchie - filmography

5 most recent films

Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows - 3.5 stars
Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows - Blu-ray - 3.5 stars
Sherlock Holmes - Blu-ray - 3.5 stars
Sherlock Holmes - 3.5 stars
RocknRolla - 3.5 stars

5 highest-rated films

Snatch - Blu-ray - 4.0 stars
Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels - Blu-ray - 4.0 stars
Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels - 4.0 stars
Sherlock Holmes - Blu-ray - 3.5 stars
Snatch - 3.5 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Swept Away - 2.0 stars
Revolver - Blu-ray - 2.5 stars
Revolver - 2.5 stars
Madonna - What It Feels Like For A Girl - 3.0 stars
RocknRolla - 3.5 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Jason Statham - 12 times - show films
Vinnie Jones - 9 times - show films
Mark Strong - 8 times - show films
Kelly Reilly - 7 times - show films
Rachel McAdams - 7 times - show films