An auspicious, electrified debut for Guy Ritchie

Rating: Null/10 (3 April 2001)

There are few debut films as relentless as this one. Guy Ritchie submerges his sepia-toned cameras into the bowels of London's notoriously shady East End in "Lock, Stock...". It's his first film, so it's just a baby, but a baby tiger with teeth & claws ready to bite you. It's a labyrinth plot of drug dealers, thieves & wanna-bes, supposedly paying homage to the British gangster films of the 40's and 50's but still taking a chunk from the book of Tarantino (cross-cutting stories, a thin black guy with a big afro and a sharp suit, lots of funk music, excessive weaponry & profanity). Hey, that's OK - Quentin made gangsters cool again, so why not try and expand on it? Ritchie certainly does. Mostly devoid of "pop culture" dialogue, this film instead dives into Cockney slang (making me want to visit England even more) with a sordid cast of characters.
Tom, Bacon, Soap & Eddie are four amateurish wiseguys who find themselves in deep debt when Eddie loses a fixed card game with the local porn king, Hatchet Harry. Harry's collector, Big Chris, has been assigned to make sure the boys pay within a week or start sizing up their fingers for amputation. Meanwhile, Harry is in search of two antique shotguns, and has sent his right-hand man, Barry the Baptist (the reason for Barry's nickname is both funny & frightening) to hire two bumbling, arguing thieves to retrieve it. Tom's neighbors, a quartet of loathsome criminals, are looking to rip off a prominent marijuana house. The pot dealers in danger are in the midst of finalizing a deal with a miniature "madman" known as Rory Breaker (played by scene-stealing Vas Blackwood who shines most among the large cast). Eddie figures if his gang can rip off his hoodlum neighbors they can pay back Harry and sell the pot via Nick the Greek, the local fencer, who is known to most of the previously mentioned characters.
There are more twists, turns & intersections in this story, but it's useless to illustrate them. It's difficult to absorb this dense film in one viewing, especially for Americans not familiar with deciphering heavy British accents (the sprinkles of Cockney in the dialogue may not help, either). However, this is still a wildly engaging film. There are all-around great performances, including the younger characters, who never seem to feel out of their league going up against the sizably older gangsters. They do look out of place though and most of their fortune in the film is brought about more by luck than resiliency. Likewise, the older actors (namely P.H. Moriarty, Lenny McLean, Vinnie Jones and a brief role by Sting) bring more meat to their performances than the remainder of the cast. With exception, of course, to Vas Blackwood's attitude-in-an-afro Rory Breaker. As a director, Ritchie seems floored with the art of making movies, and incorporates a lot of stylish cinematography into his work. Some scenes actually use slow motion, freeze frames, and zooms all in the same shot (the card game is deftly composed and obviously takes place in the center of a boxing ring to allow more camera movement). Hard to believe he shot this film without the benefit of playback monitors. A thrilling joy ride, full of testosterone & vinegar, that definitely makes it a guy's movie (no pun intended).