Those worried about violence being made to look cool should avoid but otherwise it is slick fun without any substance beyond the plot twists and turns

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2006)

Eddy has been good with cards since he was a youth but more than that he is good at reading people. So he makes an agreement with friends Bacon, Tom and Soup to raise the cash to enter the £100k game organised by "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale. Unknown to Eddy, Harry cheats and it isn't long before Eddy is in debt to Harry for losses of £500k. With a week to pay, the four friends are desperate but things look good when Eddy overhears of a weed den run by a handful of former public schoolboys who have lots of cash and lots of drugs. However as they try to get it, the web of gangsters and thieves just gets more and more convoluted.
Although he has found out that it cannot produce a career. Guy Richie's debut film is a wonderfully fun piece of silliness and style. The success of this film can be seen in the vast number of inferior copies that came out in the years following Lock, Stock's release but although this is not a strong film, it is very energetic and fun. The script is a mix of characters all spouting exaggerated cockney dialogue in a plot that has plenty of twist and turns but very little depth. This isn't really a problem though because most viewers will come to this knowing what to expect  and few of them will be looking for a serious look at gangsters in London. No, this is nonsense but it is cool, funny and (if you ignore what came after) very fresh.
For all his inability to work with serious stories, Ritchie knows how to use a camera and this film is full of visual tricks that work really well. Freeze-frames, slow-mo, different shots etc; yes they are all style without substance but the visual feel of the film is cool. The soundtrack is also really good and works well within the film, never hitting a bum note and always lifting the energy anytime any track plays. The plot is well written in regards the funny dialogue and the slick narrative but those who worry about films making violence and crime look cool should probably just avoid it because this is what it does in the place of substance or moral consideration. Of course this doesn't matter because Ritchie and the cast totally buy into the slick, violent comedy that they are making. Flemyng, Fletcher, Moran and Statham all do well in the lead roles  Statham being my favourite because he introduces the film with his cheeky sales pitch. The support cast are all fun even if some of them are unusual choices. Jones doesn't deserve the fame he got off this film but he is solid here even if his range is limited to say the least. Loads of familiar faces fill out the rest of the cast with good caricatures from Blackwood, McLean, Marcus, Flint and others.
As we have seen, it has been difficult for Ritchie or anyone else to repeat the success of this film but for his debut he got it spot on. Although it lacks any sense of morals or character substance it is fresh, funny, violent and, most importantly, fun. Not to everyone's taste of course but cool, slick and enjoyable.