An All-Time Great in the Heist/Crime Comedy Genre

Rating: 10/10 (28 October 2009)

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is a stylish, witty, and fast-paced comedy that spans every level of the London criminal underworld. The film is centered on four friends who pool their money so that one of them can enter a high-stakes back-room poker game. Eddie (Nick Moran), a natural at reading the most minute involuntary reactions, is convinced he can't lose. The game has been rigged against him, however, and what looked like a sure thing ends with Eddie and his friends in debt to a local crime boss and purveyor of pornography named Hatchet Harry. Now these three petty criminals (and one aspiring chef named Soap who's always managed to keep his hands clean) have one week to come up with £500,000 or Harry's enforcer will start taking their fingers.
This is writer and director Guy Ritchie's first time at the helm of a feature film, but he expertly guides us through a labyrinth of schemes and characters without the viewer becoming lost in the details. And there is a lot going on in this movie. Multiple interconnected plots dance around each other as thugs, street-corner jewelry hucksters, drug dealers, and crime lords all scheme against one-another. Ritchie makes excellent use of the camera and of music. When Eddie staggers away from the poker game finding himself impossibly deep in debt to a very dangerous man, the scene takes on a surreal yet panicked mood that puts the viewer right in the character's shoes. Looking directly into his face as he makes his way out, you're drawn in and feel his world crashing down around your own shoulders. The slick soundtrack of blues and rock adds to the effect of immersion, setting a rhythm for the action on screen.
The cast members turn in strong performances all around. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels marks the feature film debuts of Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones, both of whom would go on to become well-known actors in the genre. Sting also turns in a memorable cameo appearance as Eddie's father.
There is a fair bit of violence and quite a lot of foul language. While it doesn't descend into being vulgar simply for shock value, there is more than sensitive viewers are likely to be able to overlook. For fans of this genre, however, this film is one of the very best. It's funny, full of surprises, and engaging right up to the very end.