Starring: Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone, Hugh Grant
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Spy action thriller directed and co-written by Guy Ritchie. Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre (2023) centers on super spy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) and his team of top operatives (Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone) who recruit Hollywood’s biggest movie star, Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett), to help them on an undercover mission to stop billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant) from selling a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order.
Best Quotes
Nathan: But why me? Why not the official intelligence branch?
Knighton: Ruse de guerre, Nathan. An unorthodox approach to war. I need a creative, cunning, and unconventional vision to retrieve this kind of mercurial threat. A courier on a bicycle in congested traffic, not the official team. They’d take forever to wade through the administration, and the clock doth ticketh.
Knighton: So, who will be heading up your team?
Nathan: Oh, the usual chap. Orson Fortune.
Knighton: Oh, f***.
Knighton: [referring to Orson] That man is an administrative nightmare. He can’t fly unless there’s a private jet because of claustrophobia. Then he needs sedating with the finest claret because of agoraphobia. And then there’s the rehabilitation in the Maldives because of cloudo-bloody-phobia.
Nathan: [referring to Orson] He’s trained to exploit every system presented, which is why he is the very bicycle courier you require.
Nathan: There’s a price to pay for possessing a unique set of skills, being as brilliant as you are. And please don’t take this the wrong way, as a private contractor, your government pays you handsomely for.
Orson: I’m ignoring this apparition. I’m talking to an empty space.
Nathan: We don’t know what was stolen. That remains a mystery for you to solve. But we need to stop it getting onto the open market. Threat’s imminent.
Orson: How imminent?
Nathan: Imminently imminent. Put it this way. When you hit the ground, you’ll be running, literally.
Orson: If I asked, would you pay me more?
Nathan: You can ask.
Orson: Will you pay me more?
Nathan: No. You’re above that grubby self-interest. You’re a patriot. And besides, no one gets treated like you get treated.
Orson: When you say “you”, you really mean you.
Nathan: Sarah Fidel.
Orson: Strong nom de guerre. Never heard of him.
Nathan: That’s because she’s an American.
Orson: “She”.
Nathan: JJ Davies. There really isn’t very much he can’t do either. Comms, guns, driving, diving, rapping, slapping, you name it.
Orson: Apparently, you’re the new John.
Sarah: Not meaning a toilet or prostitute’s client, I take it? Please don’t pee on me. I don’t do that anymore.
Orson: John didn’t have a personality. I liked John.
Nathan: [referring to Sarah] You can call her “John” if it makes you more comfortable.
Sarah: I’m going to keep an eye on you, feed you constructive information, play the right music. I’ll control the turntables, you control the dance floor. Like to dance?
Orson: I liked John.
Nathan: We’ll send him some flowers on your behalf.
Nathan: [over radio] Orson, just remember he’s a bagman. A retired professor, not a threat, or a black belt in Mogadishu.
Orson: I’ll try not to frighten him to death.
Orson: JJ, keep your peepers peeled and your hands out of your pockets.
JJ: Peepers peeled. Hands flying free.
Nathan: Mike only has two talents. Blowing his cover and blowing himself.
'You can't catch this fish with conventional lures.' - Orson (Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre) Share on X
Nathan: [referring to Bakker] What’s wrong with him?
Orson: Don’t know. Keeps saying he’s hot.
Bakker: No. No. Heart.
Nathan: Loosen his tie.
Orson: He doesn’t feel very hot.
Sarah: He’s not hot, you idiots. He has a heart condition.
Sarah: Nathan, your file says you’re terrible at accents. So don’t talk.
Sarah: [referring to Greg] Seems he loves an orphan.
Orson: Well, he wants to. He made enough of them.
Nathan: Can someone please tell me why we’re flying to Los Angeles?
Orson: The power of “no”, Nathan.
Nathan: I’m sorry?
Sarah: Backwards to go forwards. We’re going to LA to pick up our invitation.
Nathan: That being?
Sarah: Danny Francesco.
Nathan: Danny Francesco. The movie star?
'The best agents are stars, and the best actors are movie stars.' - Orson (Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre) Share on X
Danny: Goddammit! I do the stunts. You shoot the money! Wake up, everybody! Chad, get out of the f***ing car!
Orson: Greg Simmonds favorite movie star. Danny Francesco
Nathan: And how does that get us in?
Orson: You can’t catch this fish with conventional lures. Greg wants what everyone wants. What they can’t have.
Sarah: There’s nothing you can’t buy, apart from Danny Francesco, who recently snubbed a ten million dollar offer to jump out of a cake and sing him Happy Birthday.
Orson: [referring to Greg] He’s obsessed with celebrities. But more obsessed with their partners. Sarah will be going as Danny’s girlfriend. It’s the fish that can’t be caught, Nathan. Power of “no”.
Nathan: And how do we turn this movie stars “no” into a “yes”?
JJ: I think we’ve got something.
Nathan: Blackmail?
JJ: Yeah. Blackmail.
Nathan: Ruse de gurre. Very good. Carry on.
Danny: Oh, Saul. You’re a fabulous producer. I mean, you’re a piece of s**t, but you’re a fabulous producer. Everybody wants to work with you. I want to work with you. But a Swedish accent, Saul? Come on, I’m an American!
Saul: I mean, you have to do this for us.
Danny: I have to? I don’t mean to contradict you, Saul, but I don’t have to do anything for anybody.
Orson: And I don’t want to contradict you, Danny, but we all have to do our bit.
'There's a big difference between an actor and a movie star.' - Danny (Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre) Share on X
Orson: You’re going to have to trust me for two minutes.
Danny: Why should I?
Orson: Because you’re an actor. You’re a movie star. Because you’re a professional. Imagine we’re in a scene.
Orson: Are you a patriot?
Danny: Well, I don’t vote Republican, if that’s what you mean.
Orson: There’s a sensitive and awkward situation between you and your sister-in-law that you probably shouldn’t have filmed.
Danny: I actually love my sister-in-law.
Orson: Yes, Danny. You made that quite evident.
Danny: I don’t think I can do this. No, no, no. Nope.
Orson: Danny. Trust yourself. No need to be nervous.
Danny: No reason to be nervous? They’re only killers.
Orson: We’ve all seen you handle killers before on-screen.
Sarah: Fundamentally, there’s no difference.
Orson: What do you think an agent does? They act. And no one acts better than you, Danny. The best agents are stars, and the best actors are movie stars.
Danny: I guess that’s sort of true.
Sarah: You’re an actor. Act.
Danny: There’s a big difference between an actor and a movie star.
Orson: And that is why they’re obsessed with you.
Danny: Well, that and the fact that I didn’t jump out of a cake for ten million dollars.
Sarah: Remember, you’re a professional. You’re playing yourself.
Danny: But I’ve never played myself.
Greg: What’s that funny cancer?
Trent: Is there a funny cancer?
Greg: Can’t remember what it was. But it was something like c**k cancer.
Nathan: [to Orson] It’s one thing utilizing the expense account because you have “psychological” issues. It’s another thing bankrupting the department.
Trailer: