For years, there have been controversies that deal with celebrities working with their respective governments like Sinatra, Chuck Barris, John Ford, and even Julia Child. Some are true while others have been speculated for decades. It is the kind of story that will always fascinate us, and with Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre, this gets taken to another level.
The latest offering from director Guy Ritchie, this film features Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Hugh Grant, Josh Hartnett and Bugzy Malone. This is your basic spy film with a twist of comedy as a new high-tech device is stolen and is to be auctioned off by billionaire Greg Simmonds (Grant). The British government hires Orson Fortune (Statham) to lead a team of Sarah Fidel (Plaza), J.J. Davies (Malone), and actor Danny Francesco (Hartnett) to retrieve the device before it falls in the wrong hands. With all of this going on, there seems to be another team trying to do the same thing they are doing with Nathan Jasmine’s (Elwes) professional rival in Mike (Peter Ferdinando).
Let’s get to the big question: how is this film any different from any other James Bond-style film? On one hand, the plot is your basic “bad guys with a new device that can cause chaos and you got your good guys trying to stop it” thing with global settings and runs about two hours along with the “Mission: Impossible” team dynamic. However, what makes this stand out is how the team truly works together versus one person doing everything and the rest just doing one thing. Each member of the team is cross-trained and can back each other up along with the added wrinkle of the team they are competing with along with limitations by their own government from a bureaucratic standpoint.
The acting is good here with Statham doing what he does, but I was truly pleasantly surprised at how well Plaza did in a role that is a little different than some of her work and does so in a way that enhances what is already there. The best thing for me is the mix of comedy with action, which gives it a breath of fresh air versus your basic Bond film. I really did enjoy Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre and recommend it as a Saturday afternoon showing in the theaters.