Guy Ritchie works his magic again

Rating: 10/10 (28 April 2001)

I had no idea what to expect when I went to see this film. I was happily surprised at what I saw. Guy Ritchie is another director who knows how to use high quality music video style, snappy editing and directing. Ritchie has written another wild, snarled plot in the tradition of Pulp Fiction. Actually, this film is extremely similar to Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels - identical would not be a stretch. But Ritchie is not plagiarizing - L, S, and 2SB is his film also. Like Run, Lola, Run, the music video style is used here only where it helps the film, not impedes it. The most inventive use takes us across the Atlantic in about 3 seconds - you'll have to see it to know what I mean. Almost all the characters have incredibly thick accents, requiring complete attention on the part of the viewer to catch the dialogue. But that only adds to the overall quirkiness of the film. All the actors are fairly good. The one who really shines, though, is Brad Pitt. He wallows in his seediness in this film, and appears to love doing it. His impenetrable Irish accent is really impossible to decipher, and creates some very funny moments. The other thing Ritchie plays with is time. A spectacular scene where three cars and three story lines interact is done in reverse. This scene is absolutely hilarious and very inspired. Warning note to guys: This is quite the guy's film. Think twice about taking a date with you to this one. With that said, I need to go reserve my copy of the video before it comes out. 10/10!!!