Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

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.

Fmovies: 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."

If this film had been dubbed for American viewers, (even if it would have lost the magic of the cockney accent), not one person from the States would have said this wasn't a really good film. I didn't even understand most of the dialogues, but the weirdness of the characters and of what they did was really funny. Not hysterically funny, but Funny! The mixture of comedy and violence was the thing that most amused me. The story itself isn't of the most original, but surely efficacious. The photography and the soundtrack were also brilliant and to finish, I saw Pulp Fiction, I loved it, but after seeing LS&2SM I was too busy thinking over and over how much I liked it for noticing a whatsoever similarity with PF. 10 out of 10 is a bit too muchÂ… but 9/10 definitely isn't! Watch it!

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels fmovies. 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.

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.

Incredibly funny and entertaining story of four young "criminals" out for big money. This is one of the most intelligently written stories I've ever seen. If you like to write screenplays, let this one take you for a spin. Very fast paced film with great editing techniques and a hilarious cast and storyline thats sure to entertain, as long as you can handle the accents. Great cinematography as well. This story will send you through a cork screw. See it once, then see it again to see what you missed.