Hilarious and engaging

Rating: 8/10 (15 April 2012)

The stingy Tom(Flemyng), seemingly clean-cut but deep-down possibly insane Soap(Fletcher), the fence Bacon(Statham) and the card-shark Eddie(Moran) are no strangers to the world of small or big-time crime of London's East End(which is the sole environment this takes place in, and it really brings it to the screen), and they've got 25K each, totalling at 100, which is the entry fee for the big game(that last-mentioned intends to win, bringing home quite a lot for the four) with Hatchet-Harry(Moriarty). It doesn't go as planned, and as his name might suggest to you, the H is not someone you want to owe money(he could send Barry the Baptist(McLean) at you... why call him that? 'cause he likes to drown people), and they have a week to come up with it. Meanwhile, their neighbours are planning to rob a group of pot-growers of their product and the wealth of profit it has brought in so far, and there are two antique rifles(hence the title) in play as well, and the various factions(did I mention there's a Samoan mob in this, too? The leader looks adorable, until he opens his mouth and threatens death and destruction, and you find yourself trusting him on that) are all after one or more of these items, either for what they're worth or because they have to, for someone else. There are a ton of mix-ups(the audience are the only ones to know everything that happens), and in addition to these surprising twists and turns, this is kept going a lot through the golden, quotable dialog(note that most of it is full of slang from the local area, and if you're not familiar with such, you may need subtitles to follow this) and these situations where people are threatened by this or that circumstance or person. This is a gangster-comedy-thriller, with a macho, very *guy* sense of humor to it. A lot of the fun comes from the quirk, as well. Ritchie loves him some dumb hustlers(here and in Snatch), and he plays with the camera and editing with the grace of a virtuoso, leading to a visually stylized film that never bores you. The characters are distinct, and for the sheer amount, that is as impressive a feat as how much screen time and development are actually afforded the lot of them. Everyone is well-cast and the acting is great. The types here are priceless. Vinnie Jones portrays an enforcer, as he should. This keeps to a marvelous pace. The 100 minutes fly by. There is a lot of brutal, bloody violence, strong language, crude references and a little nudity/sexuality in this. The DVD comes with a trailer for this. I recommend this to any fan of Guy, the leads and the British disposition. 8/10