Who's that Guy (Ritchie)?

THERE'S one drawback to film festivals if you're a member of the working press.

The time lag.

When I sat down with "Rocknrolla" director Guy Ritchie in early September at the Toronto International Film Festival, he was still happily married.

Well, he was married.

My, how the world has changed.

With the opening of "Rocknrolla" on Friday, Ritchie's personal life has overshadowed the life of his British-gangster comedy. Now he's in the news primarily for what seems to be turning into an ugly divorce, for directing Robert Downey Jr. in his new film on Sherlock Holmes and for comparisons to Alex Rodriguez.

One other thing that's different since early September: The global economy.

"Rocknrolla" is in part about the Russian mob, the British mob and the London real-estate-speculation boom.

"There was a correction about 20-odd years ago," Ritchie said, "but since then it's been going one way. And it's still going that way. They can give me all the credit-crunch talk that they like, but the fact is that at the upper end of the scale it doesn't seem to have flinched."

It might have flinched a little.

Back in September, Ritchie; his producers, Joel Silver and Susan Downey; and cast members were eagerly discussing a possible "Rocknrolla" sequel, perhaps a trilogy.

Asked if a decision on a sequel would have to wait until the DVD release, Ritchie didn't think so.

"I think you'll pretty much know after the first weekend," he said.

Uh oh. "Rocknrolla" took in a weak $1.75 million in a not-too-wide national-opening weekend, a little more that $2,000 per theater. On the plus side, the film has done more than $9 million in the UK, according to boxofficemojo. com.

That could save a sequel.

"The thing is they're not expensive movies so they're not a major undertaking," Ritchie said.

Sharply dressed and soft of speech, Ritchie came across more like a banker than a filmmaker (then-)married to a music superstar, and said most of what he knew about the rock-and-roll lifestyle came "mostly from the tabloids."

That would indicate that Ritchie read the tabloids. But when asked about the most ridiculous stories ever run about him and/or the missus, he said, "I'm not even sure if I've read a story about me. There's no story that springs to mind."

It was a typical Ritchie answer. Polite, passive, not very informative. That's one of the other problems with film festivals - sometimes your interview is at the end of the day when the "talent" is talked out and on sleep-deprived auto-pilot.

Did Ritchie think that multilayered TV dramas allowed him to more easily juggle multiple storyline?

"I watch so little TV, I can't really comment on that one."

Did he have a favorite gangster film?

"No."

Any directors who inspired him?

He wouldn't answer that one either.

When would he allow his children to watch his films?

"When it says that they can on the tin."

Writing or directing?

"I much prefer directing to writing, although the discipline of writing has its advantages. Often I enjoy writing; it's just a harder process."

So did he envision and write in all of "Rocknrolla's" various accents and dialects?

"I'm not sure. I just sort of let that process happen unconsciously."

What about life in the media fishbowl? Certainly Madonna's (then-)husband would have a comment about that.

"I just pretty much walk around," he said, of his ability to have a sort of normal public life. "It's one of those things that I don't really think about until I need to think about it, and I don't really need to think about it at this moment so I can't really comment on it." *