Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre ★★☆☆☆
If you're in the mood for a half-baked espionage romp where everything sparkles—except the plot, characters, and, well, most of the film—then Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre might be your cup of lukewarm tea. Directed by Guy Ritchie, this movie tries to whip up a spy thriller with a dash of comedy, but what we end up with is an unconvincing caper that feels more like a muddled rehearsal than the slick heist it pretends to be.
The film follows the formulaic "grab-the-dangerous-MacGuffin-before-it’s-too-late" plot. Jason Statham plays Orson Fortune, a phobia-ridden super-spy (though good luck spotting any actual phobias on screen). He’s tasked with stopping the sale of some world-ending piece of tech, though the specifics are so vague, even the characters don’t seem too concerned. The team? A tech-savvy Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes in charge, and Bugzy Malone as the muscle. To infiltrate billionaire arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant), they blackmail Josh Hartnett’s movie star, Danny Francesco. Yes, it’s a "bring a celebrity to the gunfight" scenario. No, it doesn’t really work.
At its core, Operation Fortune is a wannabe tongue-in-cheek spy film, except it doesn’t know how deep its tongue should go or if it’s even joking at all. Ritchie tries to inject a bit of satire, particularly with Hugh Grant’s sleazy, yet oddly charming arms dealer, but the lack of a consistent tone leaves most attempts at humor stranded, waiting for the punchline that never comes. Even the geopolitical stakes feel weightless, more like a backdrop for Statham to punch people and Plaza to throw in some sardonic quips.
You can tell Guy Ritchie wanted this to be slick, but instead, it's the cinematic equivalent of a magician revealing all his tricks before the show starts. Yes, we get the exotic locales—Morocco, Cannes, yachts in the Mediterranean—but no amount of sunny scenery can disguise the fact that the film is just going through the motions. The visual style tries to scream “Bond,” but ends up whispering “generic spy flick” instead. The action scenes feel obligatory and lifeless, as if everyone just wants to wrap it up and head to lunch.
Jason Statham is his usual stoic self, but this role doesn’t do him any favors. His character, Fortune, is meant to have layers—he’s supposedly phobic and quirky—but you’d need a magnifying glass to find those nuances. Aubrey Plaza, usually a reliable source of sharp wit, seems stuck between playing a snarky hacker and a generic femme fatale, neither of which she fully commits to. Hugh Grant, the supposed comedic highlight, ends up feeling more like a recycled version of his far more charming villain from The Gentlemen. The real tragedy here is Josh Hartnett, whose movie-star-turned-undercover-agent arc might have worked—if only the film didn’t treat him like an afterthought.
With a runtime of nearly two hours, Operation Fortune drags its feet. The plot has so many unnecessary detours and uninspired tangents that you start to wonder if the characters themselves forgot what they were supposed to be doing. By the time the convoluted, low-stakes finale rolls around, you’ve stopped caring. Ritchie tries to set this up as the start of a franchise, but given how plodding it feels, I doubt many will be clamoring for a sequel.
Operation Fortune feels like the cinematic equivalent of someone telling a joke they’re not sure is funny. You wait for the punchline, it never arrives, and then you’re just left nodding awkwardly. It’s trying so hard to be clever, but the film ends up more like a pale imitation of better caper films, with none of the self-awareness to save it. Maybe if I’d gone in with lower expectations (or more popcorn), I’d have been more forgiving, but as it stands, this "Ruse de Guerre" turned out to be more ruse than reward.
Who is this movie for? Die-hard Guy Ritchie fans might appreciate his attempts to blend Ocean’s Eleven with Mission: Impossible, but anyone looking for a coherent plot, meaningful stakes, or characters that aren’t just caricatures will leave disappointed. There are hints of a good movie in here, but like the spies themselves, they remain hidden in plain sight.
A caper that doesn't caper, Operation Fortune is a miss in almost every way. 2 out of 5. If this is the start of a new franchise, let’s hope it doesn’t get past the pilot.
