The sequel to one of Guy Ritchie’s best films has 6% on Rotten Tomatoes

Guy Ritchie is a prolific filmmaker who has made several great films, including many cult crime and action films. In fact, the 2000 film Grab is generally considered one of his best and is typical of his style. Unfortunately, the director also had to endure some failures and his third film was a big disappointment for many.

Swept away was a remake of a similarly titled Italian film from 1974, but was not nearly as popular. In fact, the film was a financial and critical disaster that ended the career of singer Madonna. Although the director recovered from the film, his reputation among moviegoers has not yet recovered.

The original “Swept Away” was received mixed but positively

“Swept Away” from 1974 dealt with class struggle, but also perpetuated misogyny

The original Swept away (with the full title Swept away… by an unusual fate in the blue sea of ​​August) was directed by Lina Wertmüller and released in 1974. The story revolves around a wealthy society lady on vacation when an unexpected diversion of her voyage leaves her stranded along with the “lower class” ship crew member who had previously mistreated her.The two are stuck in a small cove and are only close to each other. Their previous roles are reversed.

Raffaella Pavone Lanzetti, once an ardent capitalist, now has to deal with a more communist attitude. She is also forced to become the true slave of the former sailor Gennarino, who makes her do pretty much anything for him and even forces himself on her for a short time. Despite these events, the two fall in love in the peace and tranquility of their island. After being rescued and returning to her normal life, Raffaella is able to return to her comfortable life without any problem, but Gennarino suffers after losing the love of his life.

After publication, the original Swept away received positive reviews, although moviegoers and critics had some problems with certain elements. The biggest problem was the perceived misogyny of the story, in which Raffaella is virtually enslaved and kept on a leash by Gennarino. There were elements of class struggle and political entanglements, but some felt these were swept under the rug in the rest of the film. Despite this, the film was hailed as a classic by critics around the world. At the same time, it seemed like a strange attempt to remake it, which only added to the disaster that was the largely reviled remake decades later.

Guy Ritchie’s first and second films were box office hits

“Jack, Queen, King, Grass” and “Snatch” brought Guy Ritchie much praise from critics

Published in 1998, Jack, Queen, King, GRAS was the first feature-length film by director Guy Ritchie. The heist movie is about a con man named Eddie who enlists the help of his friends to rob local gangsters and pay off a huge debt. Compared to other gangster films and the works of director Quentin Tarantino, the film was very well received and is now considered the 38th best British film of all time according to the website Total Film. It even received a TV spin-off called Castle, warehouse …and thus consolidated the success of the film.

Considering the film grossed nearly $30 million on a budget of less than $2 million, it was more than just a great debut for Ritchie. It also introduced audiences to actors like Vinnie Jones and current action hero Jason Statham, both of whom previously pursued other careers. Jack, Queen, King, GRAS was even unofficially remade as an Indian film in 2006, Phir Hera PheriTwo years later, Guy Ritchie and SKA Films released Graba similar film that also deals with criminal gangs in Britain. The film starred Brad Pitt and also featured stars from Ritchie’s previous film, Jason Statham.

Grab was also well received and cemented a certain style in the director’s filmography. Of course, some noticed a strange resemblance to the film that came before it, but that only helped the well-received film to also become a box office hit. There was also a TV spinoff in the form of the Grab television series, although it wasn’t released until nearly two decades later, in 2016. Given his track record of producing huge hits from low-budget films, Guy Ritchie seemed to be on his way to a hugely successful career in cinema. Unfortunately, this was temporarily derailed by his third film, which was a far inferior remake of a classic.

Why Guy Ritchie’s third film was a big disappointment

Although the storyline of 2002’s Swept Away remained the same, it did not reach the quality of the 1974 original.

Release two years later Grab, Swept away by Guy Ritchie was narratively identical to the original. It also follows a wealthy woman who is stranded on an island due to a mishap with a crew member who had previously mistreated her. She begins to question her nepotism ideology as she is forced to cope with her new circumstances, and eventually she and her fellow castaway fall in love. The male protagonist Giuseppe Esposito was played by Adriano Giannini (the son of Giancarolo Giannini, who played Gennarino in the original), while the female protagonist Amber Leighton was played by legendary singer Madonna.

Madonna was actually married to Guy Ritchie at the time and the film was produced by Ritchie’s close friend and fellow director Matthew Vaughn, who had also produced his previous films. Despite a seemingly talented cast in front of and behind the camera, the 2002 version of Swept away was a failure in two respectsDespite a budget of $10 million, the film grossed just over $1 million at the worldwide box office.

This disastrous financial development was accompanied by even worse reviews, and to this day Swept away has only 6% on the review website Rotten Tomatoes. Most of the criticism was directed at the quality of the film compared to the original, especially at the omission of the more political undertones. Further problems arose with Madonna’s acting, as well as the fact that her character was simply too unsympathetic at the beginning of the film to provide any real redemption.

Many once hated films are re-evaluated years later, but that was not the case for Swept away. Most still consider it a poor rendition of an earlier film and find it disappointing. At the same time, few have found any truly major problems with the film, at least not enough to justify its particularly low Rotten Tomatoes rating. Since its release Swept awayGuy Ritchie has had his fair share of flops and hits, with the blockbuster 2019 live-action remake of Disney’s animated classic Aladdin was a great success despite mixed reviews.

At the other end of this spectrum was the well-received flop of 2024, The Ministry of Immoral Warfarein which he reunited with popular actor Henry Cavill for a World War II story. However, he has definitely had more successes than failures, with most of his films being well received and praised for their stylish, if sometimes mischievous, charm. Unfortunately Swept away is not considered a proper part of that pantheon and the film failed neither at the box office nor in the hearts and minds of critics and audiences.