Country:
U.K
Starring:
Jason Flemyng
Dexter Fletcher
Nick Moran
Jason Statham
Steve Mackintosh
Vinnie Jones
P.H Moriarty
Lenny McLean
Sting
Directed By:
Guy Ritchie
Guy Ritchie's movies are both very formulaic and highly unpredictable. He has both a signature style and themes, which are violent but sympathetic gangsters, humorous quid pro quo, complex plots and dynamic editing that highlight the playful intent of its author. LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS is Ritchie's first and arguably his most complex, playful and dynamic work. That's why it's the first title that comes to mind to so many people when Ritchie's name is thrown in a conversation. It's the movie that bears his mark the most. It's also pretty wild, to the point where you can't be sleeping at the wheel. Some movies allow you to zone out for a scene or two, but this one doesn't. It's not that it doesn't have lengths (because it does have a few), it's that its storyline is not very structured. LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS is chaotic, fresh and has a tremendous sense of humor, but looking back upon a decade of Guy Ritchie's movies, you can't help but notice he got a lot better since then.
Giving you a glimpse at the story without spoiling anything is really hard, because everything is so interconnected (another Ritchie trademark idea). Eddy (Moran) runs a small crew of four guys, who pooled their money to get the hundred grand necessary to access a high stakes card games with local hoodlum Hatchet Harry (Moriarty). Eddy does well with the money, but ends up losing it at the very end of the game and put him and his friends in debts for 500 000 euros (or pounds, not sure). Harry sends his goon Chris (Jones) after them as they try and scramble for a plan to get the money. They do when Eddy overhears his neighbors talk about a pot dealer robbery they want to pull. It would get them money, plus Eddy knows a guy who knows a guy who could buy them the weed. But the criminal scene is a small, small world and you can't pull that off without consequences, no matter how far ahead you can think.
That's about it, I don't think I spoiled anything. Now Ritchie's script, as fast paced and humorous as it may be, is a little hard to follow. There are several things going on at the same time, not unlike an ambitious novel, told from the third person point of view. Everything is important, so if you misunderstand something or sleepwalk through a scene, you may get lost. I have to mention, this is also Guy Ritchie's most stylish film, which is shot throughout using a very strange, almost eerie lighting. There is a shade of orange dominating most frames, like in a CSI: Miami episode. It's odd and yet it gives LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS a more striking sense of individuality than his other movies. All his movies have a strong identity, notably through the costumes and settings, but the use of lighting and filters for this one makes it more evident and easier to remember.
LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS is wild and crazy fun, yet it leaves you with the impression that it was way too ambitious for its means. It has an epic scope for a crime story, that is very hard to wrap and structure into a movie. This is still a piece of cinema history that introduced us Guy Ritchie's amazing writing, Jason Statham and the oh-so-amazing Vinnie Jones. It blew people away when it came out and rightfully so, but looking back through ten years of amazing crime films, Ritchie just got more polished and experiences along the way. LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS doesn't live up to SNATCH or ROCK N' ROLLA, but both couldn't have existed without the first. It's a movie you have to watch while knocking down Red Bull cans to keep up, but it won't leave you feeling empty and used. It will make you tired, but you will go to bed dreaming about British gangsters and high stakes poker.
SCORE: 86%