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A Gentleman movie review: Worth a watch?

The film is one long-drawn 'thriller' that sags, sags and sags in its confused narrative

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When a film opens with a man relieving himself right at the audience, there is little to expect; it is almost as if the makers decide to have a laugh at you, and that is what directors Raj & D.K do with A Gentleman, a film confused in its identity and convoluted in its narrative.

But irrespective of what A Gentlemen offers you as a film, it is a delight to watch its hero, Sidharth Malhotra grow and evolve as a performer and an actor. It might not be coincidental that the film comes with a trailer of his peer Varun Dhawan's Judwaa 2. The boys who started out together are now the gentlemen of Bollywood, and perhaps it is also coincidental that both are doing 'double role' movies.

The trouble with A Gentlemen is its pace and genre-association. For a romantic, comedy thriller, the film does justice to neither three. Meandering in its narrative, and flitting from Miami to Mumbai to Goa, it takes a while for the film to get into the groove.

So we are presented Gaurav (Sidharth) who is a prim and proper gentleman living in Miami, has just bought a palatial home and drives a safe car. His colleague Kavya (Jacqueline Fernandez, trying desperately to be coy and stupid) does not reciprocate his feelings for her; the reason - he is too nice and sweet and all that; if only, she says, he had a bit of the wild streak!

So the camera cuts to the life of Rishi (also Sidharth), who is part of a covert team led by Colonel (Suneil Shetty, in a role that reminds of Main Hoon Na) doing heady action, apparently, to save the nation. The team members do not know it but Colonel has turned rogue and is now using the operatives to get rich.

Rishi, having put in 14 years into such daredevilry, has but one dream: To marry, settle down, have kids, and watch their puppy dog poop in their garden. Well, to each one his dreams!

Raj & D.K try their best to keep the viewers intrigued in the first half as Gaurav comes down to Mumbai, where Rishi is on one last mission for the Colonel.

So who is Rishi? What is his connection with Gaurav? Are the timelines presented real or just to confuse us? Will Kavya discover that there is more to the story of Rishi? Will she stop being dumb? And did Jacqueline choose the film because she was hooked to the challenge of doing a pole dance (as we read somewhere) justified?

Well, these and more unfold in the second half, which is almost fully set in Miami. There are some finely choreographed stunts and you can see the effort that Sidharth took for the film. There are also some unexpected moments of wry humour, more of which would have saved the film tremendously.

It is however the pace that makes A Gentlemen a tedious affair. For an action thriller, this one is slow. There are many pauses, diversions and distractions, and the recall factor of Mr & Mrs. Smith doesn't help either.

An earnest Sidharth who gives his body and soul to the film doesn't salvage it; it isn't his fault really: There is only so much a wafer-thin plot and script can deliver.

A Gentleman
Starring: Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez
Directed by: Raj & D.K
Now playing at theatres in the UAE
Rating: 2/5