Review of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) by Deb S — 28 Nov 2011

"If you hold back anything, I'll kill ya. If you bend the truth or I think you`re 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!".

This British caper plunges us into a dizzying maelstrom of double-crossing petty thieves, drug dealers, gamblers and assorted other criminal lowlifes whose paths cross in the streets and alleyways of London in clever and often fatal ways.

We encounter four British guys, three of whom are operating on a plane slightly on the wrong side of the law. Tom, (Jason Flemyng) operates as a small-time fence, Bacon (Jason Statham) is a small-time street con and Eddie (Nick Moran) is Bacon's some time partner in crime, the cardsharp of the group. The fourth member of their circle is Soap, (Dexter Fletcher) who unlike his three mates, likes to keep his fingers clean by dabbling into a legitimate occupation, baking. Suffice it to say this quartet of likable smalltime hoodlums amass a decent stake from the fencing of stolen property and decide to risk it all on a high stakes card game with a notorious gangster named Hatchet Henry, who has rigged the game, unbeknownst to Eddie. Harry cleans them out as well as an additional large sum of money, given to them on loan. Cue the cunning plan to get the money within 7 days, or they start losing fingers and the ongoing hilarity as several groups of gangsters end up at cross purposes. The switching between plots is perfect, keeping you guessing exactly how each subplot affects the others and drumming your fingers waiting for that inevitable collision that is bound to happen.

As a writer and director Guy Ritchie fills the screen with a delightful gallery of eccentric, offbeat and slightly off-kilter characters. These are all too numerous to mention, but special note should be taken of Henry's chief henchman, Big Chris (Vinnie Jones), who politely scolds his young son and partner in crime for his use of unseemly language as he bashes the brains out of one of Henry's delinquent customers or insists on his buckling up for safety as they take off on one of their wild rides through the crime-infested streets of London. If you liked Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs then you ought to see Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.