Directed by Guy Ritchie, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre stars Jason Statham as the leader of a group of British spies who must stop an arms sale brokered a billionaire played by Hugh Grant. Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, and Josh Hartnett round out the cast.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is a rather conventional spy thriller. Most of the film relies upon the charms of Aubrey Plaza and Jason Statham, who are delightful together but the script doesn’t give them much to work with. Like many Ritchie films, the pace is quick even though the concluding sequences go on too long, and there is enough wit to provide a chuckle or two.
Within Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre are the echoes of another film, one that was much more tonally consistent and funny, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022). Both films feature spy agencies employing an actor to play a role in the scheme. However, instead of Nicholas Cage playing an exaggerated version of Nic Cage, Josh Hartnett plays Danny Francesco, a movie star who gains the weapons dealer’s trust. Hartnett and Grant work well together and have a genuine chemistry.
People who enjoy spy thrillers and Guy Ritchie fans will like the no-frills, direct approach of Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, which is a competent but wholly unremarkable entry into the spy genre. The one creative misstep is a character turn at the end; the film takes great pains to provide an unsavory backstory to a character who undeservedly gets a redemption arc.
After bursting onto the scene with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), Guy Ritchie’s style and substance have remained largely unchanged and unchallenging. Perhaps that’s the most accurate way to describe Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.
