Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) User Reviews

A British classic.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 3 December 2023]

Four criminals have to raise money to pay off a poker debt that one of the four, Eddy has racked up. They hatch an audacious plan to repay Hatchet Harry.

I can't believe it's 25 years since this film came out, quarter of a century on, and it's still as brilliant as when it first hit the screens.

Guy Ritchie's first film, and for my money, still his best, it's wildly over the top, hilarious, it's super slick, it really defined an era. The 90's truly were a feel good time in Britain, and this film simply shouts about that upbeat vibe.

Jam packed with British talent, there are so many faces here, many well known, talented actors, you've got Nick Moran, Mackintosh, Flemyng and Statham, but what struck me, was how good Vinnie was, him and his son were hilarious.

It never gets tired, I could watch this film over and over.

9/10.

As T.C. said, this movie rocks!

[SKG-2 · 9/10 · 14 January 2000]

You all may know the story at how Tom Cruise saw this movie at a screening in London, and afterwards said, "This movie rocks." Whatever you may think of Mr. Cruise, I happen to agree after watching this film. Although I had trouble following the story at times, it was a lot of fun, and Ritchie managed to juggle all the characters around and keep me interested and compelled to watch. I also didn't have any trouble understanding what the characters were saying, and I think those who blind themselves to films like this by saying, "Oh, I can't understand them" lack patience. I also liked all the actors, particularly, of course Lenny McLean and Vinnie Jones(one of my few complaints is I would have liked to see more of them in the film). And for a film which feels violent, there's surprisingly little actual violence, which is refreshing. Overall, not a particularly deep film, but a lot of fun.

Guy Ritchie's Hilarious Feature Debut

[brando647 · 8/10 · 23 December 2007]

This is one seriously funny movie. I've probably seen it close to 10 times and it hasn't gotten old yet. Guy Ritchie brings us a hilarious look into the London criminal underground in one of his earliest features. The story revolves around four friends who become indebted to the local crime lord after a card game goes horribly wrong. The humor in this movie is sharp and fast-paced. At times, it becomes a little hard to keep up with the thick British accents and the cockney rhyming slang but overall, it doesn't detract from the movie. The movie keeps you guessing as to the outcome when the story becomes complex with multiple lies and double-crosses but the ending satisfies.

This film marks the debuts of two of England's coolest new actors: Jason Statham (who went on to do 'Transporter', among other movies) and Vinnie Jones (now a familiar cinema tough guy). Jones is especially good as Big Chris, debt collector/family man. The majority of the cast aren't common faces in America (aside from Sting) but they all have the charisma to keep the audience interested. Another plus is the film's soundtrack, ranging from reggae to 70's soul. It adds to the movie's already laid-back feel.

Everyone I've seen the movie with enjoys it (once they get past the thick accents, anyway) so I can say with confidence this is a fun movie. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good comedy and I feel this movie's humor hits more often than it misses. I'd recommend giving this movie a chance at least once and I don't think you'd be disappointed.

Seriously addictive movie - The most balanced movie ever made?

[CriticNick · 10/10 · 18 December 1999]

The first time I saw this movie I had difficulty in understanding a lot of the dialogue not just because of the weird accent, but because the actors spoke so damn fast. But despite this I became literally addicted to it. To begin with my wife got pretty annoyed because any other movie we rented would be ejected after about 20 minutes of viewing and in would go LS&2SB. Now she is hooked as well.

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen LS&2SB and still cannot put my finger on why I find this movie so good to watch. I suppose the most obvious feature of this movie is that it is beautifully balanced between being serious and humorous at the same time. The characters are two-dimensional. The villains are menacing, and yet they are made to look like idiots, and the good guys think they are so smart yet keep getting the rug pulled from under them. They are all projected as 'cool' yet the situation is always out of their control. Maybe it could be called a satire on true life.

The style of this movie is unique, full stop. I cannot think of any movie that can be compared to LS&2SB. Quite a few people say that the style is a mix of 'Pulp Fiction', 'Goodfellas', 'Trainspotting' and 'Reservoir Dogs', but I think that you would make that kind of description only if you are really desperate to match LS&2SB to something.

The best description I can think of is 'MTV does a crime comedy', and I honestly don't think there is anything wrong with that. Like music videos, it is all non-stop movement and sound. Something is always happening but unlike music videos, not without reason.

The humor is incredibly sharp yet 'as a matter of fact'. No one is really trying to be extraordinarily funny, but again it is the balance between being menacingly serious and funny that the humor really flies at you. I think that it is for this reason that a few people are really disappointed with LS&2SB. If you are expecting a 'belly laugh Leslie Nielson, Jim Carrey, Steve Martin, typecasted' type all out comedy, or a serious 'Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, DeNiro typecasted crime thriller, you will find this movie a big let down.

My favorite characters are Rory Breaker (Vas Blackwood) and Big Chris (Vinnie Jones) mainly because their two dimensional over-the-top characters are the most obvious. Big Chris takes his son with him debt collecting, and while he beats up someone who owes chastises him for swearing in front of his son and Rory Breaker is the most idiotic drug-lord you could come up with.

I haven't even mentioned the excellent and unique camerawork, speaker blowing soundtrack, beautifully threaded plot, perfect ending and the grittiest visuals I've seen. You wont see any reflective glass laden sky scrapers here, or 'over head city shots', or incredible special effects. This movie has actors I have never heard of, dialogues that you have to rewind and replay to understand, buildings that look as though they have been condemned for demolition, cars that wouldn't even be seen in our scrap yards, has probably been made with a budget that most movies in Hollywood use for make-up alone, has no love scenes, or romance or complex relationships, no Oscar-worthy performances, and yet is perfect entertainment.

Where our movies normally rely on budgets, this movie works on human talent alone.

If any movie deserves a 10 out of 10, then this is it.

'And there's one more thing...............it's been emotional'

The essence of late 90's cinema -- hip, highly stylized, VISUAL

[doktor d · 19 February 2003]

Guy Ritchie's hip, highly stylized 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' is a truly remarkable film, not only for its appropriately pyrotechnic camera work, but also for its seemingly flawless, puzzle-perfect script/screenplay. While the picture's main focus is on a group of lads who invest money in a high-stakes, rigged card game and lose, the broader story concerns approximately eight different groups of criminals whose paths cross (more> than once, in some cases) during various illegal pursuits: money, guns, drugs, even revenge. The film is quite violent, both on and off screen, but it's also uniformly humorous throughout. It's important to note that the four central characters (a cook, a card sharp, and a couple of guys who sell "discounted" items) are interested only in acquiring the money to pay off their enormous debt; they kill no one. The same applies to the laid-back college boys who "grow copious amounts of ganja".

The cast is comprised of mostly young, veteran, male actors. In fact, the only female in the film doesn't even speak, though she handles a machine gun fairly well. Sting appears briefly in several scenes as a bar-owning father figure. While his secondary performance is solid, as usual, it is also unmemorable. The soundtrack is first-rate, from the 60's hits of James Brown to the contemporary beats of London's underground. The groovy, pulsating music and lyrics are often succinctly synchronized with the action and dialogue in the film, creating a theatrical rhythm that is fairly uncommon in cinema (from any period).

Critics and audiences over the years have often dismissed stylized camera work as pretentious and unnecessary, stating that it detracts from the story, bogs it down, or pads it; however, the film medium has the luxury of actually "displaying" a story for its audience, unlike the written word alone. It's what the medium is all about -- it's VISUAL. Hence, one of the reasons a filmmaker chooses such visual displays is to "brand" his or her work, in the same way as writers like Cummings, Hemingway or Joyce did with their medium. It's hard to imagine a cinema without Hitchcock, Kubrick, or Scorsese to represent it. To this end, Ritchie has taken his first step in establishing his own brand. His energetic, ultra-contemporary camera work incorporates (through a fresh perspective) such devices as slow motion, fast motion, and freeze-frame coupled with narration. It is at times reminiscent of (and actually expands upon) Martin Scorsese's patented visual stylistics and camera movements, like those found in 'Mean Streets' and 'Goodfellas'. But the similarities with Scorsese's work end there.

Critics' endless comparisons of Ritchie's film with the works of Quentin Tarantino and Danny Boyle's 'Trainspotting' stand mostly unwarranted, as these comparisons take away from the inventiveness and originality of 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. Ritchie's film is a much more involved, complex, layered work than the aforementioned comparisons. While Tarantino's films are very strong on dialogue, screenplay, and editing, they often lack creative camera work and direction. Boyle's 'Trainspotting' does have a resembling "feel" to 'LS&TSB', but aside from its Great Britain origins, there really is no need for comparison. 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' is essential viewing.

Have a butchers...

[Quag7 · 10/10 · 1 March 2002]

I was a total and complete sucker for this film.

If I were to write and direct a movie about gangsters or crime, this would be it. I wouldn't change one damn thing. Not a thing. Everything in this film was, to my eye, perfect - casting, the camerawork, the excellent dialogue ("It's been emotional.")

Now I don't have much to compare this to, and I've heard some criticism that it basically draws quite heavily from older British crime dramas. I've got a bunch of these on my queue to rent, but I doubt you could make a crime film better than this.

This film oozes with style, class, dark humor, plot twists and turns, and doesn't drag one bit. The casting and characterization is perfect, and Ritchie isn't afraid to move the cameras around; no pretense is really made here at "realism" - Ritchie doesn't mask the fact that it's a film and he runs with it.

I really don't think of myself as easily impressed, and I have seen a hell of a lot of films in my time, but this one instantly made my Top 10 after only a single viewing. Yes, I'm raving about it, and while it may not be "spiritually enriching" or contain any deep sociological content (which I actually do look for in films), somehow it still scores as one hell of a film; memorable and entertaining, and stands up well to multiple viewings.

I am a bit dismayed to see some of the marketing of this film comparing it to other things like Quentin Tarantino films or Trainspotting. It really does it a disservice because this film really is its own phenomenon and stands on its own two feet; if anything it is similar to Trainspotting and Tarantino films only because it actually has its own bold style.

Can't recommend it enough.

Pure Bloody Genius

[gavin6942 · 10/10 · 21 February 2006]

Guy Ritchie has a skill: the skill to take multi-layered gangster plots, weave them together, and come out with a fabric of the finest quality. I first watched "Snatch", which came after this film. Loved it. Watch this film, which had a similar set-up (the interwoven gangster theme). Loved it. As far as I'm concerned, if Ritchie can maintain this level of creativity, he can keep on making these films until the end of time. His characters are so well scripted and the actors so well chosen, there is a three-dimensional quality to this film, as if you can almost taste the sulfur in the shotgun blasts.

To describe the plot is difficult, unless we choose one character as the hero and the rest as the anti-heroes... but that's hard to do. While certain people seem to be on our side, they're all equally involved in the plot. Kids playing poker, a porn king who cheats at cards, Big Chris the hired thug, the stereotyped black ganja dealer, Barry the Baptist... all great characters.

Another aspect of Ritchie's films is that instead of good vs. evil, he offers us bad versus evil. All the characters do bad things: steal, drink, smoke dope and kill if necessary. But some are simply "bad" (people who would be morally upright in a different setting) and others are "evil" (no moral code at all, black all the way to the core of their heart). This almost non-dichotomy is probably not unique to Ritchie, but is something he excels in. Highest possible recommendation, you nonce!

Brilliant script, brilliant cinematography, great acting and soundtrack

[jedidp · 10/10 · 5 November 1999]

Best comedy in years, friend turned me on to this hilarious comedy of errors and glad she did. The film is damn near flawless, forces you to pay attention to the twists and turns through it's witty dialogue. Wonderfully photographed with brilliant camerawork but not overdone. Worth several sittings and we could learn alot in Hollywood from this one....

Brilliant

[s-dewitt · 10/10 · 13 October 2004]

I have watched this film countless times and it is always funny, entertaining and visually appealing. It combines a great story (actually about 8 stories), lush cinematography (a personal must have), and superb dialog. When I first saw it, I thought it was a good rip-off of pulp fiction (a common theme on the message boards), but later you come to realize that this simply is not the case. IMO, it is much more like "The Usual Suspects", another great film.

The visual appeal puts it in my top three list for this (along with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Das Boot).

There is no weak character - everyone is perfect and fits into place and has their own role in the whole story. But my personal favorite is Rory Breaker. He manages menacing and humorous at the same time in perfect combination.

Favorite lines (from Rory Breaker) "If you hold back anything, I'll kill ya. If you bend the truth or I think your bending the truth, I'll kill ya. If you forget anything I'll kill ya. In fact, you're gonna have to work very hard to stay alive, Nick. Now do you understand everything I've said? Because if you don't, I'll kill ya."

Watch this with subtitles, if you can

[Flagrant-Baronessa · 8/10 · 29 June 2006]

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels features a lot of local slang and Cockney accents and, while it is far from impossible to comprehend, you will be doing yourself a favour if you follow the dialogue in subtitles. In fact, even the unbearably annoying 'hard-of-hearing' option is welcomed. It follows a group of four very "working class" blokes as they try to help their friend Eddie (Nick Moran) get out of an enormous debt he amassed one night, playing high-roller with a local gang-boss that cheated. The lads resort to illegal ways to get the money, like ripping off their pot-selling next-door neighbours.

This is a really excellent film—entertaining; funny, exciting, and extremely realistic. The style is gorgeous. In fact, I have nothing bad at all to say about it except that it may not be everyone's cup of tea. You also have to be patient with it. That may have been my problem the first time I saw it because I can remember mixing up quite a few people when not paying attention.. Still, the realism of the situations make up for its occasionally slow pace and dialogue-driven plot. For instance, none of these working-class guys know how to handle a gun when they need to, and the result is hilarious. They're not goofy by any means, but they're just normal guys that struggle with the life of crime that they are forced to turn to in order to repay Eddie's debt. Also note the fantastic use of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges. 8/10

entertaining

[Lumpenprole · 6/10 · 21 January 2002]

For $8 million, this is a fricking monument of 1990's film. The first time I saw it I laughed at most of the jokes and followed the plot with pleasure. That's more than I can say about any number of movies in the 1990's that cost ten times as much to make and starred pricey talent. The editing is clever and cute. The casting is just short of flawless. Of the four principles, only Bacon seemed consistent to me. The minor parts were sometimes spectacular, esp. Big & Little Chris and Barry the Baptist.

There are some legitimate complaints about this movie. The big one is that it doesn't really go anywhere or mean anything. It seems like an awful lot of flash and talent to end up saying nothing about anything. But um… it's not like Lock, Stock is trying to be anything it isn't, so maybe it's not a valid critique after all. Considering how long Tarrantino's influence has been around, it's a little unfair to call Ritchie on imitating him. There are some similarities – large casts, distinct characters, clever dialogue, rapid shifts in narratives from one string to another and shifting in time, and few other things. I think the problem is that years of dumbing down by Hollywood have almost eliminated all these things. The influence is there certainly, but it would not seem as pronounced if there were any other hugely exposed filmmakers in recent memory that put as much emphasis on dialogue and character besides Tarantino.

I haven't watched MTV since the mid-1980's, so the style of Lock Stock and Snatch didn't seem trite to me. Some people I talked to said that the film style was too much like the average car commercial or pop video, which is getting the influence backwards, but I could see how those associations would spoil the experience.

Very funny, very witty & very excellent British crime caper.

[poolandrews · 9/10 · 5 March 2008]

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is set in London where four close friends Eddie (Nick Moran), Bacon (Jason Statham), Tom (Jason Flemying) & Soap (Dezter Fletcher) all chip in £25,000 to make up the £100,000 entrance fee to a big high stakes poker game held by hard as nails villain & crime boss 'Hatchet' Harry Lonsdale (P.H. Moriarty). Eddie is an expert poker player & figures he can make each of them a clear £100,00 profit, if they play their cards right (ha!). Unfortunately 'Hatchet' Harry doesn't like losing & cheats, Eddie not only loses the £100,000 but actually ends up owing 'Hatchet' Harry £500,000 after borrowing it from him to continue in the game. 'Hatchet' Harry is not the sort of person you owe money to, Eddie & his friends must find a way to raise a half a million pounds in the next four days or start losing their fingers...

This English production was written & directed by Guy Ritchie & has already deservedly reached pretty much classic status, in fact it still resides in the IMDb's top 250 films list over ten years since it was originally released & for me it throughly deserves to be there. It's just a wonderfully entertaining, witty, funny, clever British crime caper with bags of personality & at the time it was made originality although in the ten years since it was released many a British film has ripped it off trying to recreate it's success. There are a few things which make Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels so brilliant. First it's just so funny, I have seen Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels several times now & I laugh my head off every time, the really funny dialogue, the spot on performances, the hilarious one liners, the use of funny cockney rhyming slang & the things which happen along with the often bizarre situations the character's find themselves in means there isn't a scene that goes by where something funny doesn't happen or there isn't some instantly quotable insult or one liner. Secondly the character's are great, they have real depth & the good guy's are very likable so you root for them while the bad guy's are real nasty pieces of work so as a consequence you don't root for them, just the way it should be. Then there's the plot which at the time was fresh, new, original, clever, witty, full of great twists & turns & there's certainly plenty going on which rather improbably all come together at the end in a somewhat far fetched way but when a film is as entertaining, clever & downright funny as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels you just tend to go with it. A brilliantly funny British comedy crime caper, one of my favourite films ever & it's as simple & straight forward as that.

Director Ritchie really injects some style, pace & energy into the film with various tricks which never become gimmicky or intrusive & only help tell a brilliantly story with style, originality & panache. Not only did Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels revolutionise the British crime caper genre with it's story telling but it has also influenced plenty of films since with it's slick editing & visual techniques. There's a fantastic soundtrack too, I really can't think of one bad thing to say about Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels which is pretty high praise in itself as I am not easily pleased. There's a fair amount of violence but nothing overly graphic & a lot of it is played for laughs as is the bad language & profanity of which there is a lot. In fact I don't there is a single scene which doesn't involve the use of strong language at some point.

According to the IMDb Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels had a budget of about £960,000 which is simply amazing, a film this good & this stylish for less than a million? Shot on location in & around London Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels were the film debuts of both ex footballer Vinnie Jones & Jason Statham who have both done very well off the back of it. During the final credits the film is dedicated to ex bare knuckle fighter Lenny McClean who played Barry the Baptist & who died of cancer shortly before the film premiered. The acting is great from all involved, there's boyish charm to downright menacing criminal unpleasantness.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a brilliantly funny, witty, clever & entertaining British crime caper that is a true genre great & one of my own personal favourite films ever. Ritchie followed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels up with the equally brilliant British crime caper Snatch (2000) a couple of years later.

In this criminal subculture, they cheat and rob each other.

[crisp_morning_2004 · 7/10 · 27 July 2006]

Never seen a more entertaining gangster film than this one. It elicits belly-laughs with its black humor.

Guy Ritchie lures us deep into an intricate world, a world only belonging to streetwise charmers, merciless debt collectors, dope drug dealers, paranoid marijuana growers, eccentric Afros and inept burglars. In this criminal subculture, they cheat and rob each other.

Such a film as it is, if shot by a less intelligent, would be a disaster. But Guy makes the story full of twists and coincidences and weaves them all into his well-craft web. Elements like guns, knives, corpses and claret are indispensable parts for a gang film. In Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, guns are replaced by air rifles and antic shotguns, knives by kitchen ones and some kicking. And the bullets fly and corpses aren't that bloody since most are off-screen. And I couldn't help laughing at Soap's theory like " guns for show, knives for pro" especially when he soapboxes it with a seriousness on his soft-soap face.

The dialog is recommendable and quotable. The shooting angles, especially close-ups cannot be more suitable for this films. See a label sticker under the sole of Harry? To crown them all, the cliffhanger ending is peerless.

Lock Stock and 2 hours of rubbish

[pinkliz41 · 1/10 · 31 July 2008]

I really cant see why this film is so highly rated. In my eyes it's just a complete mess and Ritchies worst film. Compared to Snatch, this has nothing on it, not even close. The other critics on this website debate that Lock Stock has a better ending and story, but i didn't really see that. The pacing of Lock Stok is astonishingly slow and the characters feel like their cardboard cutouts without a soul. This also brings a negative thrall over this poorly directed and acted mess.

I cant begin to tell you how much i disliked the cast, i mean awful. The choices of picking some actors like Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran and Steven Mackintosh is just like picking up anyone of the street and saying they will do. It's not on. And despite not having ever heard of any of them, i wish i hadn't now.

Comedy Noir well done

[ExtraCrispy-2 · 15 February 2000]

I'm not sure whether to call this a black comedy or a comedy-noir. The story is about four working class lads who have each managed to save up 25,000 pounds to spot their card-shark friend for a high-stakes poker game with "Hatchet" Harry, the local gangster.

Unfortunately, Harry's game is rigged and the four end up owing Harry half a million pounds, with just one week to come up with the cash. What ensues is a set of schemes, counter-schemes, rip-offs, and bad/good luck that demand you pay attention. On several occasions I had to pause the video just to take stock of which gang was planning what.

The final thirty minutes of the film, as the plots all collide and overlap, turn set-piece shoot outs into comedic punchlines. The comedy is driven by exploding our expectations of what are otherwise pretty standard scenes from the film-noir genre.

The acting is strong and the script very tight. Although I am not normally a fan of voice overs, this one informs without spoiling the action. And I liked the use of the slow-motion to disrupt the action and keep me paying attention.

While this film may not be for everyone, if you enjoy a darker pallette, this may be right up your alley.

Now do you understand everything I've said? Because if you don't, I'll kill ya

[Popcorn-28 · 9/10 · 12 December 1999]

I've avoided this movie for sometime now. Firstly because friends told me that it was 'Pulp Fiction'-ish (and boy do I hate that movie). Secondly, because its British and although I'm from South East London myself and love British television comedies, I have rarely found British humour well translated onto the big screen. Normally it is toned down to plain slap-stick goofy uncomplicated Inspector Cleuseau type humour tailored for American audiences.

But to find not just British, but straight-faced East London cockney-slang and swear filled humour in a really stylish movie was a revelation.

I have always believed that British humor, especially East London humor is much more sophisicated than American humour. Maybe the reason why American audiences have been more forthcoming with LS&2SB is that despite the accent, they finally 'get it' without having to have it remade into an American version, ala Faulty Towers and Threes company and other British comedies. Yet, I believe Tom Cruise is remaking the movie with an American cast. I suppose for those who just cannot understand English unless its spoken in an American accent. That is really a shame as there are so many diverse accents all around the world and LS&2SB could not have been done in any accent other than cockney.

Still, there are bits only the British will get, like the scene with the three guys pouncing on the traffic warden in the back of the van. That scene had me clutching my sides. Only someone living in London can feel true loathing for a traffic warden, the most hated person in Britain.

Cinemtography was superb. I wont go into who's already done the slow-mo's and stop action argument. It is near impossible to do anything in a movie today that has not already been done. You can either do nothing - or do whatever you can as long as it suits the mood and the flow of the movie, and Guy Ritchie just cannot be faulted. He projects the seedy, thin laned, miserable weathered London, yet with such style that you want to see more. The camera work could not have been better. Just see the projection of Eddy's unsteady, light-headed wooziness as he gets up from the gambling table having lost everything and owing even more. Brilliant.

The Soundtrack was as diverse and yet brilliant as I have ever heard in a movie. I dont want to look like waving the Union Jack here, but this movie shows that the British have a more diverse taste in music. From Reggae, to Ska, to Rock, to Mikis Theodorakis every track played just added to the scene showed.

In short, LS&2SB is a movie that just does not stop for a second, is full of refreshing humour, filmed with style, has a lively soundtrack, some violence thrown in for good measure, and a story with more twists and turns than a bowlfull of spaghetti.

Dont let this movie slip you by. You'll either love it, or hate it.

If this movie was not British, I'd give it an 8/10, but since it is, it gets 9/10 from me.

Favourite dialogue: Rory Breaker: If you hold back anything, I'll kill ya. If you bend the truth or I think your bending the truth, I'll kill ya. If you forget anything I'll kill ya. In fact, you're gonna have to work very hard to stay alive, Nick. Now do you understand everything I've said? Because if you don't, I'll kill ya.

Stylish clockwork

[briancham1994 · 9/10 · 25 April 2021]

This film's plot starts off a bit convoluted but gradually meshes together like clockwork, with every scene and line having significance. The varying plotlines weave in and out with expert craft, always leaving the audience wondering what will happen next and never alienating them. These are all funny in a subtle, situational way - muted reactions to extraordinary events, chance encounters and thwarted masculine bravado. The characters are exaggerated, the style is frenetic and the environment is gritty and urban. These all amount to an expertly made crime-comedy with a unique British 90s music video feel.

A British Reservoir Dogs

[OriginalMovieBuff21 · 8/10 · 26 February 2006]

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is about four London class act stiffs who put their money to a test in a card game until things end up horribly wrong as they owe half a million pounds within a week to come up with the cash. The movie is by all means, enjoyable. The characters are all likable and their sense of humour makes the movie tick up a notch. I found myself laughing a couple times in the film to the jokes. All the actors played their parts pretty well, but my favorite character of the film had to go to Big Chris as Vinnie Jones. He was the most entertaining and how he was always correcting his son if he ever made any mistakes was priceless. The dialogue was really well done by Guy Ritchie, as well as his directing. What I noticed about the movie, was how much it was alike to the 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs. Lock, Stock had colorful characters, robbery that ends up bad, unexpected tragedies, good screenplay as well as directing by one person, and a good sense of humour. All those resemble to Reservoir Dogs, it's not even funny. Overall, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a good and entertaining comedy/crime film that shows a good future to Guy Ritchie aka "The Next Quentin Tarantino", to many. Although it's not up to par with Reservoir Dogs, I still enjoyed it and will be paying a lot of attention to Guy Ritchie's films. I recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B

Easily one of my all time favorites

[Keyser Soze-12 · 9/10 · 20 January 2001]

I didn't know what to expect when I popped this movie in my VCR. On one hand, I had heard this movie is hilarious, fun, and three steps from Pulp Fiction. On the other hand, it's British and it may not transfer into my American head very well. I had heard also that the movie is a rip-off of Pulp. Well, let me tell you what I think.

When the movie was over I found myself on the floor laughing like a giddy schoolchild. I was laughing for two reasons: 1) This movie is as funny as they say it is and 2) THE MOVIE IS SO GOOD! I haven't been this giddy after a movie since, well, Pulp Fiction, which is why people compare the two I guess. But don't let anyone convince you that Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a British remake of Pulp fiction, because anyone who says that is a fool. The two are completely different. Okay, maybe not completely different, but they're different enough.

For one thing, Lock is no where near as serious as Pulp. Don't get me wrong, Pulp had its funny moments, but Lock is 100% comedy. The movie's laughs come from two places. The first place is the funny dialog. Once you get past their accents, which are a little on the thick side, you will find that these guys are just plain funny. The second place is where most of the laughs come from: the plot. The plot is so damn funny; I can't even begin to talk about it. Watching these fine British lads get caught up in this mass confusion is good ol' fashion entertainment my friend.

The only problem I have with this movie is that the director, Guy Richie, can get a little on the music-video-direction side. With all the twisted camera angles and the pumped up music one could almost mistake this for a music video on TRL. This really didn't bother me that much. Just like in Pulp Fiction, these guys spent some time compiling the soundtrack. Great soundtrack people!

If you liked Pulp Fiction, you'll love Lock, Stock, etc. so pick this movie up.

9/10

"Lock, Stock" comes at us with two smoking barrels

[dunmore_ego · 10/10 · 5 November 2006]

"Right! Let's sort the buyers from the spiers, the needy from the greedy and those who love me from the ones who don't…" Bacon (Jason Statham) and Eddie (Nick Moran) work a street crowd with their hot merchandise. Cops. They flee. When the film suddenly crashes into super-slomo, and a hard, street-savvy narration kicks in (Alan Ford's voice) telling us of Bacon's and Eddie's street chicanery on its last legs, we hark back to the opening of *Pulp Fiction* (where Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer are dialoguing intriguingly and cooing like lovebirds over coffee in a diner one minute and in the next, suddenly viciously holding up the joint). Like *Pulp*, this Guy Ritchie-penned and –directed trash whore promises to be a dialog-luscious film with a rabid style all its own.

It is.

With a frenetic energy that few films today possess, *Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels* is the work of a film-maker who remembers that movies are, first and foremost, Entertainment. Guy Ritchie is Danny Boyle (*Trainspotting, 28 Days Later*) on crank.

Along with Statham and Moran, Dexter Fletcher (as Soap) and Jason Flemyng (as "Tubby" Tommy) round out the quartet of twenty-something East End street friends who pool their cash to enter Eddie, a card-shark natural, into a life-or-death stakes card game with local gangster and porn king, "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale (P.H. Moriarty).

Which Eddie, through Harry's cheating, promptly loses.

So begins Eddie and the boys' crooked quest to deliver "half a million knickers" to Harry before Harry's bulldog, Barry "The Baptist" (Lenny McLean) starts claiming their digits as vig.

That's the short version. In the final telling, Lock, Stock - filmed with a leached look that makes London look even stinkier and gloomier than it actually is - is a Mobius strip of black comedic robbery and nihilistic bloodletting, shot through a revolving-door of criss-crossing, cross-killing, kill-switching plots.

Concurrent with our desperate hero foursome (calling them anti-heroes does not even suffice for their level of "anti," so let's drop the prefix and stop pretending we don't support bad guys), there are the dazed and confused marijuana farmers led by the willowy Winston (Steven Mackintosh), whom we first meet inanely arguing over locking the front gate; there are Eddie's neighbors, a gang of thieves as ruthless as they are inept, led by a chilling sadist, Dog (Frank Harper), whom we first meet as he swipes golf balls off the nose of a victim while machete-ing another hanging upside down; there is a black gang of giants led by a cockney midget with a fashion-challenged 'fro, Rory Breaker (Vas Blackwood), whose introduction to the story sees him setting a man on fire for insisting he change the pub television channel; then there are the two clueless, low-rent bandits (Jake Abraham and Victor McGuire) who burgle the smoking barrels of the title with plot-twisting consequences; there's Big Chris (Vinnie Jones), a merciless hit-man who is yet intent on raising his son with manners, and a hardened bar owner, JD, who shuns the maelstrom, not for want of street-cred, but because he is miles beyond mustered (played by Sting, as hard as the day he formed The Police).

With a source-music soundtrack that swivels effortlessly between savage, scarring guitars to ska figures and traditional Jewish plucking, and slang so rich your ears will gain ten pounds ("not with Liberia's deficit in ya skyrocket," "orders an Aristotle of the most ping pong tiddly in the nuclear sub"), Lock, Stock wends its complex way to a furiously satisfying climax, twists aplenty and a final shot that will renew your faith in creative storytelling like a date with a drunk Hans Christian Andersen.

This movie is a modern classic.

No matter the Serious Critics denigrating style over substance, this movie - stylistic to a fault – defiantly does not lack for substance. It is no secret that the nature of the medium is *reliant* on style, so it is as silly to say that a movie should lack "style" as a rock band should lack "image" – these are the selling points of the products. Style is an integral aspect of a modern director's toolbox and Ritchie has consciously chosen to present his product this stylishly - and his cup overfloweth with substance too.

Yet Ritchie's stylistic verve earns him his share of detractors, some rationally decrying the new breed of crash-cutting, shotgun storytellers, some just too slow-witted to keep up with the swagger of the Ritchies, Tarantinos and Boyles – subsequently, there are only two ways to take this movie: either not at all, or lock, stock and two smoking barrels…

(Movie Maniacs, visit: www.poffysmoviemania.com)

Luck, Irony and Two Old Shotguns

[RainDogJr · 10/10 · 24 April 2008]

After being in love with "Snatch", my cousin and I began to look out for this film and finally we saw it on a bootleg of the imported DVD. That was about 3 or 4 years ago and the last year I saw for the very first time the Region 4 DVD so I get my own copy of the film and enjoyed for the second time. Last week I saw "The Transporter" and I decide to enjoy once again this magnificent work so I'm here writing, after a third view, my thoughts about Guy Ritchie's first feature film.

The story introduce you this four friends: Eddie (Nick Moran), Tom (Jason Flemyng), Bacon (Jason Statham) and Soap (Dexter Fletcher). They have different ways to get money but finally they decide to enter in a big game. They put together £100,000 to play a card game, taking advantage of the great abilities of Eddie. But they are playing against "Hatchet" Harry (P.H. Moriarty) who is a porn king and now they owns him £500,000 and Harry is the kind of man that if you own him you better pay him. I really love how the story makes that you care and, at the same time, feel sorry for the four friends because they put in that card game all of their savings and now they need a real miracle to get the money in only one week. At the same time were are watching this, we also watch some other characters that, if you think first, doesn't have anything related with the four friends but you will see how little is the world. There are many secondary characters but basically there are just group of friends and partners: the drug growers, the criminal neighbors of Eddie, the two guys from the North and Big Chris (Vinnie Jones) with his son, Little Chris. And all know Harry and Rory (Vas Blackwood) that are the "big bosses". There are two more characters that are the ones that connect everything, specially the second one: Barry the Baptist (Lenny McLean) and Nick the Greek (Stephen Marcus). This story might look a little complicated with a lot of connected subplots but the way that is shown is just perfect, enjoyable and easy to follow. The style of Guy Ritchie is just so cool, for example the first sequence is just brilliant, and there are many funny situations just as many ironies in the entire story, being the one in the very end the biggest of all.

Cast: Just brilliant. Eddie could be the main character and Nick Moran is just great. Jason Statham is great but he has a support role as part of the four friends so he doesn't stand out of the four because the four are a team and are great. As I watched first "Snatch" I found here many familiar faces like Vinnie Jones and Alan Ford. The last one has a very small role as the bartender but he is also the narrator with his unique voice. Also Sting appears as Eddie's father making a really good performance and "the hardest man in Britain", Lenny McLean, is terrific as Barry.

Conclusion: Well for me this is nothing but a brilliant film. Great story, great characters, funny situations with a lot of irony. I mention in this comment many times the film "Snatch" and the only reason is because is a similar film, brilliant too so I highly recommend both. In this case "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" deserves a perfect and beautiful 10.

Good start for Guy Ritchie

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 20 October 2014]

Bacon (Jason Statham), Eddy (Nick Moran), Tom (Jason Flemyng), and Soap (Dexter Fletcher) are lifelong friends. Eddy is the card player. Bacon, and Tom are hustlers. Soap is straight and legal. They pull together the money to go into Harry 'The Hatchet' big card game. Harry rigs the game and the guys are down £400,000. Harry gives them a week before his muscle Barry the Baptist takes care of them. They decide to rob their drug dealing neighbor. Meanwhile Barry is looking to steal a priceless antique shotgun but it ends up in the hands of the four friends.

This is heavily influenced by Quentin Tarantino and that's not a bad thing. This is Guy Ritchie's full length feature debut. It shows that he has skills but it's not quite as polished as 'Reservoir Dogs'. The accents are quite thick. The comedy doesn't always translate well. However Ritchie has got the style down. This also introduced Jason Statham to the movie world.

A lot like "Snatch" but with fewer laughs.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 30 January 2014]

Considering that this film was written and directed by Guy Ritchie, it's certainly not very surprising that it is strongly reminiscent of "Snatch"--another one of Ritchie's film. Obviously, he did well with "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and decided to repeat the formula for his next film. Both have very dark and dry senses of humor, a lot of bad guys (nothing but bad guys), bad language and crude material all wrapped up in an incredibly stylish package. You like one film, you'll like the other. You hate one, you'll hate the other.

This film is about several groups of idiot criminals who all converge. There are the incredibly stupid and burn-out drug dealers, the tough guys who plan to rob them AND a third group that plans to rob the second group once they've committed the robbery. In addition, you have some super-scary baddies--super-scary indeed. Who will survive with all these guns, knives and swords being wielded? And, speaking of guns, two of the shotguns used in the robbery MIGHT just be worth more than all the stuff they steal--but the dummies don't even realize it.

This film is, above all else, very stylish and weird. The criminals DEFINITELY have odd and quirky personalities but more importantly, the camera-work and edits are very well done--very innovative and they get your attention. It's all very well worth seeing but it's also NOT a film for everyone. Of course, you shouldn't let your kids, your mother or Father Jenkins watch it. But to enjoy it yourself you need a very high threshold for this sort of thing. It certainly AIN'T rated G! However, despite the very harsh language and very adult subject matter, Richie actually doesn't show that much of the violence. It happens--but mostly off-camera.

By the way, of the two similar films, I slightly prefer "Snatch" simply because it tried harder to be overtly funny--though the nihilistic ending in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" was priceless. Also, as I watched the film and heard a bazillion bullets being discharged, it's interesting that no police EVER responded to any of the locations!

Slick but Unpleasant

[kenjha · 6/10 · 28 September 2007]

This slick film details the lives of a bunch of blokes in the British underworld as they fight over drug money. The Cockney accents of most of the characters are so thick that anyone outside Britain would have to have the subtitles turned on to understand what is going on. There are too many characters and not a single one of them is likable. It's difficult to keep track of the three gangs, who all seem to have similar looking young men. The plot is interesting though somewhat convoluted. Ritchie directs with a lot of energy but his cinematic tricks (freeze-frames and voice-overs) are distracting. Songs are overused on the soundtrack.

Don't believe the hype

[stephen-90 · 3/10 · 22 November 2000]

After watching "Lock Stock" my first reaction was, mmmmm, not bad. The more I thought about it however, the more I realised that it really IS bad. It tried to be so many things at once - violent, funny, ultra-cool, unpredictable, cutting edge, etc. In my opinion, it generally missed the target.

Yes, it did have moments of humour, but these were generally when glorifying violence, or through characters acting "hard". It was certainly violent in places, had a few neat twists towards the end, but ultimately left you thinking that the director Guy Ritchie was just trying to be Britain's answer to Quentin Tarantino - well sorry Guy, you lack the characterisation and humour. Remember Pulp Fiction? We all laughed when John Travolta shot that guy in the face - to laugh in the face of shocking violence takes the work of a genius - Guy Ritchie has two goons being shot by an unseen airgun marksmen with the ultra-violent "boss" shouting "will everyone stop getting shot". Yeah, hilarious.

The acting was TERRIBLE. Everyone sounded retarded - I've been to London, nobody speaks like that! And that amber hue to the picture just did my head in. 3/10