So much enjoyment, so little budget.

Rating: 9/10 (16 March 1999)

I don't remember the last time I got so much enjoyment from a film. Sure, I watched great films last year like "As Good As It Gets", "Good Will Hunting", and "L.A. Confidential", and thought, "Wow, that was fantastic", but I didn't rush out and buy them as soon as they became available on DVD or VHS. So why did I and so many others leg it to the shop on 1st March to buy Lock Stock and watch it over and over again? Many people will say that a film was "pure entertainment", and you should expect no more from an action movie. Well, nope, that's not what Lock Stock is about. What does it have then? It has a cast that give an authentic feel, if not Oscar winning performances. It has a black humour, a little overdone in places, but one that generally works well and seems to fit in with the characters and their location (i.e. you can only take cockney rhyming slang so seriously). It has a tugging, friendly plotline, that wrong foots your emotions once or twice and pokes you in the stomach, without ever *really* being twisty. It has an inconsiderate bass line, but only where your neighbours are concerned (it's great). It has Lenny McLean (RIP Lenny). It has an armoury of lines that you'll quote to your mates for weeks on end, to a point where they'll go out and buy the film just so they know what the hell you're talking about. It has the most unfair gunfight ever. It has so much more. Go see it and disagree with me. And one more thing - "its been emotional."