The cult Guy Ritchie thriller The Gentlemen was catapulted to global fame recently after reports that the uber-geezer film-maker was courting Meghan Markle to join the cast.
Those rumours have since been played down, but you can see why Markle would be drawn to this cartoonish caper, which has the same guilty-pleasure quality as Suits, the legal drama she starred in.
Whether or not she has any interest in returning to acting – or Netflix wants to hire her – The Gentlemen could do with a sprinkling of Markle megacelebrity, as the second season (on Netflix from Thursday) is quickly revealed to be a big snooze and a significant downgrade from an agreeable first run.
The main misstep is that it has started to take itself seriously and fancies itself as a Godfather II – a sequel that sets aside the pulpy pleasures of its forbear and tries to make profound statements about the soul-destroying price of a life of crime.
The one having his soul destroyed is Theo James’s Edward Horniman, an English duke who has converted his creaky mansion into a cannabis growhouse with the assistance of streetwise gangster’s daughter, Susie (Kaya Scodelario).
Not content with his vast pile and successful drug business, he’s now keen on expanding into Italy, where he has allied with a shifty aristocrat while trying to keep the mafiosi onside. Cue betrayals, bike chases and a fun turn by Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville as a crooked toff who is amenable to helping Eddie land a seat in the House of Lords, provided the price is right.
The formula is largely unchanged since season one – and there’s a winningly unhinged foray into the supernatural when Susie’s kingpin father, Bobby (Ray Winstone), becomes convinced he’s in communication with Nordic nature deities.
What’s lacking is the sense of fun. Without the larking about, what does any Guy Ritchie caper have going for it? It’s like buying a novelty Bohemian FC jersey and not going to see Fontaines DC. Are you sure you’re doing this correctly?
If Markle is missing, there is one surprise guest star: the Dublin folk singer John Francis Flynn, who pops up as the in-house entertainment for Eddie’s groundskeeper, Geoff (Vinnie Jones), strumming his guitar and conjuring some lively Celtic melancholy.
The surprise of seeing him on screen is surpassed only by the excellence of the tune. It makes for a cameo that Meghan Markle would do well to equal.