Fast paced, engaging, funny! Highly recommended!

Rating: 9/10 (1 December 1999)

This is a movie that I put off renting until there was nothing else on the shelves. I know it had rave reviews printed on the box, but so did some other English films like "The Full Monty" , "Trainspotting", "The General", and "Waking Ned Devine". Those were all films with "rave reviews", but I can't say I truly enjoyed any of them. One of the things that irritated me was the accents. They were hard to follow sometimes and it often interfered with my understanding of the plot. Anyway, my lukewarm reaction to the above mentioned films caused me to stay away from "Lock, Stock, and Smoking Barrels" because I thought it would be similarly disappointing. WAS I WRONG! This film is an absolute gem. The film I would best compare it to is
"Pulp Fiction". This film is an extremely fast paced roller coaster ride of twists and turns from beginning to end.
In a nutshell, it is about a group of guys who pool their money so one of them (A fellow with a talent for reading faces) can make a big score by playing poker with a local mobster. Naturally, the fellow loses all his friends money, and then some. The guys then hatch a zany scheme to recoup their friends losses by carrying out a robbery. I will not spoil the rest of the movie for those who have not seen it. Highly recommended! One of the 10 best movies I have seen in 1999.