Sharp crime-caper that's a capsule on the cyclical nature of crime never paying.

Rating: 9/10 (10 October 2019)

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels shows what British cinema is capable of when you focus on desperate people living in Britain's criminal underbelly terrified of owing their nasty bosses overdue, and unrealistically large, payments. The film's sharp, fast-paced editing and sepia-tone highlights this film being an energising story told from cynical and conspiring criminals unsure of what tomorrow holds for them.
Guy Ritchie does a damn fine job playing with the inherently destructive ways of criminal livelihoods, and that it's fun for observers but never for the 'actors' who actually get caught up in needlessly difficult trouble. We're watching and laughing; the characters would cuss at us for daring to do that because of their suffering. And this film works as an Uber-Dark-comedy because of this self-awareness: the way it's playful with the nastiness instead of being overly soppy for it.
This is a very entertaining caper film through and through.