Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Guy Ritchie

Writer:

Guy Ritchie (written by)

Release Date:

5 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

A Disgrace to Criminals Everywhere.

Plot:

Four London working class stiffs pool their money to put one in a high stakes card game, but things go wrong and they end up owing half a million pounds and having one week to come up with the cash.

Plot Keywords:

Antique | Drugs | Drug Dealer | Cannabis | Cardsharp

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 13 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Jason Flemyng	...	Tom
Dexter Fletcher	...	Soap
Nick Moran	...	Eddie
Jason Statham	...	Bacon
Steven Mackintosh	...	Winston
Nicholas Rowe	...	J
Nick Marcq	...	Charles
Charles Forbes	...	Willie (as Charlie Forbes)
Vinnie Jones	...	Big Chris
Lenny McLean	...	Barry The Baptist
Peter McNicholl	...	Little Chris
P.H. Moriarty	...	Hatchet Harry
Frank Harper	...	Dog
Steve Sweeney	...	Plank
Huggy Leaver	...	Paul

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

107 min | 120 min (director's cut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A) | Brazil:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bethnal Green Town Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England, UK

Company:

Summit Entertainment

Trivia:

Cameo: [Tim Maurice-Jones]the film's cinematographer appears as the man being drowned by Barry the Baptist.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Dog closes his eye a fraction of a second before the Bren gun is fired while in the cage.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bacon: Right. Let's sort the buyers from the spyers, the needy from the greedy, and those who trust me from the ones who don't, because if you can't see value here today, you're not up here shopping. You're up here shoplifting. You see these goods? Never seen daylight...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Double or Nothing (2009)

Soundtrack:

Man Machine

Plot twists and turns amongst the seedy London Underground

LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS ( rating, * * * * out of 5 )

Four lesser thieves from the East End of London find themselves dangerously in debt to a local smut peddler - the result of a fixed poker game. The consequence being that until they repay the money owed, each one will lose a finger for each day the payment is late.

While trying to figure their desperate predicament, they overhear their gangster neighbors setting up a score from some slumberous marijuana dealers and decide that knocking over the neighbours is their only way out.

After the triumphant thievery, they discover that the pot belongs to the same menacing individual they want to fence it through - a black psychopath whose history reads like the Anti-Christ's resume. Enter a miscellany of desperadoes and hoodlums who target our four lads.

For the first time since 'Pulp Fiction', a movie comes along that breaks the shackles of tedious cloning. This film is entertaining and moves along at a cracking pace. Guy Ritchie's script is a tapestry of well-written characters, sharp dialogue that says what needs to be said and leaves the unsaid as food for thought, and a mesh of sub-plots that interlace together with imagination and expertise.

His direction is crisp and inventive allowing the cast of eccentric characters to move about freely while maintaining that erratic edge. In this slick piece of film making, Guy Ritchie denies hackneyed Hollywood trends by scripting no true good-guys just varying degrees of bad ones.

This is a terrific movie. It is violent but not extreme considering the subject matter and cast of cut-throat characters. The language is strong and the humor is black where you'll find yourself belly laughing at the brutal misfortune of others. If this makes you uncomfortable, then this film is not for you. It is also not for those who have been trained by television sit-coms to laugh on cue.

Broadminds are required to enjoy this fine British film where it will definitely add some zing to your day. So stick your tongues firmly in your cheeks and hop on the thrill a minute ride that is 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'.