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Review

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Director

Guy Ritchie

Year

1998

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Guy Ritchie’s feature film debut as Screenwriter / Director is, if anything, a film worth watching. It might not be masterful or perfect, and some enjoy to claim that Ritchie’s revolutionary approach to the thriller genre was way better realized in Snatch. (2000) two years later. Even though I tend to agree with the latter group, that shouldn’t mean Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels should be passed over. As one good friend of mine and big Guy Ritchie fan put it, this movie would be seen with better eyes if Snatch didn’t exist at all. Nonetheless, this film has always been belittled in one way or another despite its strikingly original style. At first, everyone compared it to Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and/or Pulp Fiction, with a little bit of Trainspotting thrown into the mix. Even though I highly doubt that Ritchie was influenced even remotely by Tarantino’s works, I don’t see how it would affect his work even if he was.

Being perfectly objective, I find in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels an inimitable look at the underworld, focusing on the clumsiness of a bunch of lowlifes and the hilarious and intricate web of consequences when different stories collide. It’s all for the fun, as no violence is too graphic (most of it not even showing onscreen) and everyone has time to make a funny remark. In the end, it’s not exactly redeeming and probably doesn’t leave a strong mark or impression on the viewer, but the laughs one gets during it are highly appreciated.

The story, as I said, is quite intricate. It all begins with four con-artists (Jason Flemyng as Tom, Dexter Fletcher as Soap, Nick Moran as Eddie, and Jason Statham as Bacon) who take the risk of entering a high-powered Poker game where invincible Eddie trusts he’ll beat Hatchet Harry Lonsdale (P.H. Moriarty) as he’s beaten everyone in his time. Not counting on Harry’s cheating (aided by his Barry the Baptist, played by Lenny McLean, who died before the film’s release, and to whom it was dedicated), the boys find themselves in debt with a deadline to pay it. In order to get the money, they attempt to cheat their crooked neighbors, leaded by tough man Dog (Frank Harper). Those guys in turn get into trouble of their own, and other guys involved get into their own trouble, and the circle eventually closes. Thrown into the mix are a deadpan hit man and his son (Vinnie Jones and Peter McNicholl respectively), and many more sorts of lowlifes and mafiamen with different interests.

The dynamic structure of this film benefits from the non-linear way in which its story is told. It’s not exactly episodic, but instead, the stories flow and all of a sudden they intersect and we don’t always see it coming. It’s fun to realize that what you’re seeing explains something you already saw. Another asset of the story is the suspense that builds little by little. Every storyline has a suspense of its own and all together make up for a truly exciting experience. If not every story is exceedingly interesting, that’s a different story.

Sting, who appears as Eddie’s dad (a welcome if unsettling appearance, given the nature of the character he plays), introduced Ritchie to his future wife Madonna.

Overall, this is a recommendable film with many virtues to behold.

“A minute ago this was the safest job in the world. Now it’s turning into a bad day in Bosnia.”

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