The new action-comedy film “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” is arguably not one of Guy Ritchie’s best works, but it is appealing enough for one-time entertainment. At the film’s center is the plot of a secret device known as “The Handle” being stolen from a facility in Odessa and the spy mission that follows in order to rescue it back. Despite having a cast full of big names, the characters here lack much depth and seem written only for the bare minimum, while the plot, too, lacks any serious motivation for the most part.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre’ Plot Summary: What Is The Film About?
Attending an unusual emergency call on a Sunday morning, spy contractor Nathan Jasmine walks into an important British government building to enquire about the reason for such a call. Knighton, the government agent who deals with such operations, briefs Nathan about a recent event—a facility in the Ukrainian city of Odessa had been broken into by a gang that killed twenty people and stole some secret device from the place. While nobody yet knows what this device actually is, it is code-named “The Handle,” and Nathan is given the task of retrieving it. With word on the criminal market already about the availability of the Handle for a price of ten billion dollars, Nathan is also asked to investigate who had stolen the device, the seller and the buyer. The man soon sets out to gather his team members, with super-spy Orson Fortune being the leader and star attraction of the group.
Despite Knighton’s dislike for Orson for the sheer amount of government money he spends away on lavish vacations and wine, Nathan is adamant about his choice, and the super-spy is hired. Along with a leader, the team next needs a master hacker since their usual choice had been hired away by Nathan’s occupational rival, Mike, so Nathan reaches out to a new player, Sarah Fidel. A sharpshooter sniper named JJ also comes onboard with them, and the mission to retrieve the Handle officially starts. It becomes pretty clear to Orson and his men soon that they will not only be fighting against the bad guys in this case but also against another team of contract spies led by the rival Mike. They gradually learn about the involvement of a crooked billionaire by the name of Greg Simmonds in the case and decide to infiltrate a party of his at Cannes. In order to do so, though, the team hires their last main recruit for the mission—famous Hollywood star Danny Francesco—only because the man happens to be Simmonds’ favorite movie star.
What Was “The Handle,” And Why Had It Been Stolen?
Orson and his team of spies gradually get close to Greg Simmonds, who happens to be an arms dealer with the outward pretense of a charitable philanthropist businessman. With his favorite Danny Francesco present at his party, Greg does not give too much attention to Sarah, posing as Danny’s girlfriend, and Orson, posing as the actor’s business manager. It is gradually revealed that Greg Simmonds was acting as the middleman in this deal over the Handle, as he knew the sellers and had arranged for the buyers too. Hacking into Greg’s system, the identity of the sellers is revealed too, and it is the Ukrainian mafia, the same ones who had stolen it from the facility. Orson breaks into the mafia’s storehouse soon after, making it look like a common burglary by stealing jewels and other valuables, but his real intention is to access the data on their secret work laptop. After already being in Madrid and Cannes, the group now flies towards Turkey, for it seems apparent from the tapped phone calls that the deal is about to take place in Turkey. This also fits in with Greg Simmonds’ invitation to Danny and his girlfriend to spend the weekend at his house in Anatolia after the man learned that his favorite star’s next film project was to play a billionaire just like him.
At this weekend getaway, Greg and Danny become friends as the actor is mesmerized by the crooked billionaire’s charms, who is, in turn, attracted to the actor’s girlfriend. Amidst all this, Sarah has to keep up the dangerous job of hacking into the security system and looking for any incriminating information about what the secret device is and who wants to buy it. But what she initially finds is oddly unsuspicious, as the deal that is about to take place seems to be that of usual AK-47 guns. While the gun trade itself is alarming, the involvement of such important players taking high risks does not fit in with simple AK-47s. However, with more digging into the systems, she does find out that the AK-47s were a ruse as well, and the Handle was indeed what was about to be sold.
Orson tails Greg’s attorney and advisor, Ben Harris, through the streets of Turkey in search of more information. He initiates a data breach into Harris’ personal phone, but the latter manages to outrun Orson and tries to outwit him too. Harris then attempts to attack Orson but, in the process, falls from a tall building and kills himself. Around this time, Orson is also informed about what the Handle actually is, as Knighton explains the matter. The Handle was a new first-of-its-kind programmable AI device that can hack into any system, including other strong AI systems as well. While most governments, including the British administration, had believed that the device was only in development, it is now actually in fully usable condition. This was why the Ukrainian mafia had broken into the research facility and stolen the device; they wanted to sell it off to whoever would pay the most money.
Who Was The Buyer, And What Was Their Intention? What Was Greg Simmonds’ Role In This?
While the Ukrainian mafia had the Handle with them for the time being, they had gotten in touch with perhaps the biggest arms dealer in the world—Greg Simmonds—knowing that the man would be able to get a buyer for it. As it happened, two biotech billionaires named Trent and Arnold were present at the party on Greg’s yacht back in Cannes, and he had even introduced the men to Danny, Sarah, and Orson. It was Trent and Arnold who had decided to buy the Handle in order to create a massive disruption in the banking system of the world. Knowing the almost fantastical capabilities of the AI device to hack into any computer-generated system, the two tech billionaires planned on using it to hack into the systems of all major banks across the world. Even a short moment of such a disruption would wipe out crucial information, and financial markets all over the world would crash because of it. As has always happened whenever money has lost its value, gold would become the ultimate identifier of value and would become extremely expensive. Trent and Arnold had already bought about 40 billion dollars worth of gold, which they would then sell off at ludicrous profits after they had gone through with the plan of disrupting the bank systems.
Greg Simmonds had been acting as the mediator in this deal, making the connection between the sellers and the buyers. He will obviously earn a fat commission from the deal, and in fact, this is how Greg primarily earns money. As he boasts later on, towards the end of the film, the man had apparently mediated arms deals for Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, and even Pablo Escobar, so mere tech billionaires were nothing too fancy for him. The plan for the deal was that the Ukrainian mafia would meet with Greg’s advisor, Ben Harris, ensure that they received the money from the buyers, and then hand over the Handle to Harris. But with Harris already dead by this time, Orson decides to go in pretending to be Harris, and he even has to speak with Greg over the phone at one point to put in the password that would open up the case of the AI device. Sarah’s brilliant hacking skills once again come into play here as she successfully runs a voice modulator and tricks Greg into believing that he is indeed talking to his advisor, Ben Harris. Once Orson secures the Handle, Sarah wipes out the recently transferred ten billion dollars from the Ukrainians’ bank account, which they had just received from the buyer. In fact, it seems like this, too, was the doing of Sarah, who had sent a fake money transfer only to make the Ukrainians hand over the Handle, and now settled the score quickly. However, before Orson can safely get away from the place, a different intruder makes his way into the scene—the rival spy group headed by Mike.
Who Was Mike Working For?
Mike and his team of equally adept spies and hackers constantly make things difficult for Orson and his men, and Nathan even complains about it to Knighton. Initially, Knighton claims that he has no control over Mike’s team since the government often hires more than one team for a mission in order to increase its success. However, it is later learned that Mike has actually not been hired by the government in this case and is instead working on his own as a private contractor. When he and his men reach the site of the sale, they manage to get hold of the Handle from Orson and even plan on killing him. By this time, the rival spies have killed the Ukrainians too, making it look very suspicious, for a spy was never expected to go rogue, like Mike just did. Sometime later, though, it was confirmed that Mike had actually been working directly with the buyers, Trent and Arnold. The tech billionaires had possibly hired the private contractor and his spies to bring them the Handle without having to deal with Greg Simmonds. Or, it could be that Mike was indeed working on his own, had learned who the buyer was in this case, and now presented the AI device directly to them in order to earn his commission.
When Orson, Sarah, JJ, and Danny learn of this elaborate plan, they decide to return to Greg’s vacation house in Anatolia, for Orson is sure that the man will help them. By now, Greg has realized that he has been played by the spies with the help of his favorite actor, Danny Francesco, but the man seems rather amused by the whole thing. He is also eager to get his commission from the deal, which he would not get if Mike delivered the AI device to the buyers, and so Greg Simmonds agrees to come on board and help out Orson and his team.
‘Operation Fortune’ Ending Explained: Did Orson Secure The Handle? What Happens To Orson And His Team?
With the help of Greg, Orson, and the team reach the exact location where the handoff is about to take place. Knowing that Mike must have already reached the place, Greg plans his steps accordingly and takes Danny along just for the fun of it. Sitting with Mike, his team, Trent, and Arnold, Greg makes a huge show of his power by blowing up satellites with remote missiles in the distance and also flexes his muscles by mentioning his list of earlier buyers, all of whom had paid him his commission diligently. When Trent and Arnold refuse to do the same, Greg blackmails everyone in the room with private details about their families and loved ones. This is enough to create a division between Mike and the buyers, and the private contractor spy now decides to keep the Handle for himself. When his expert hacker informs Mike that they have all the contacts and information for Trent and Arnold, Mike decides to make use of these contacts to sell the device to somebody else since the tech billionaires were now refusing to pay his commission. He quickly gets the two men killed but does not anticipate Orson’s arrival in the room. Orson manages to beat Mike down with the very metal case of the Handle and then successfully secures the AI superweapon device.
The team will soon fly to Doha, where Nathan is about to meet them. Orson, Sarah, and JJ intend to drop off the Handle to their boss and walk off, but Nathan says that they already have a new mission being offered after the success of the present one. But neither of them wants to go about working right away and is adamant about taking an all-expenses-paid vacation to some luxurious country. This mentioned new mission, although we are not provided any more details, definitely hooks a possible sequel later on with the same team of spies.
Before leaving, Nathan also tells Orson to return the jewels and valuables that he had stolen from the Ukrainians’ storehouse, to which Orson replies that he has already sold them off and invested the money in a Hollywood film. As is revealed in a mid-credits scene, this Hollywood film is one in which Danny Francesco is playing the lead role of a billionaire heavily inspired by the life of Greg Simmonds. Not only does the protagonist look like Greg, but he also delivers the exact same dialogue and plays out the exact same scene from Turkey, only with the film being located somewhere in South-East Asia and with Asian villains. It is also then revealed that Greg Simmonds himself is playing a huge role in this film, possibly as the director and even the producer. As “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” ends, it is evident that the bizarre friendship struck up between Danny and Greg continues to grow strong.
