LOCK, STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
What are four blokes to do when the high stakes poker game, for which they saved their money so diligently, turns out to be rigged? In British writer and director Guy Ritchie's LOCK, STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS, they embark on what turns out to be an intricate escapade of crooks stealing from other crooks.
After the game leaves the four men, played by Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran and Jason Statham, in the hole, they try hard to devise cons that will pay off their debts, but the only scheme quick enough to repay them in time is to rob some other criminals who live next door.
This sporadically funny movie's limitations start with the casting and the costuming. There are over a dozen characters in this shoot-and-steal tale, but they can be easily collected into three groups. There are the tall, thin, young white guys, the beefy, middle-aged, white guys, and the mustached, young black guys. The script doesn't do much to differentiate the characters within the three groups. Within each group, they look, dress and act remarkably alike, adding to the confusion.
The storyline bounces around like a leaf in the wind. Although there are several funny episodes, the picture as a whole never quite gels.
If the dialog, mumbled with thick accents, has trouble carrying the movie, the atmospherics are dead-on. Filmed by Tim Maurice-Jones with a gritty, dimly lit, sepia-toned look, the movie employs a wide variety of techniques from still pictures to slow motion to fast action. Iain Andrews's sets are full of convincingly low-rent buildings. One of the main characters, "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale (P.H. Moriarty), is a self-proclaimed "Porn King," who runs a sleazy joint that sells sex toys from an authentic looking establishment.
The film has several nice small touches. The eclectic firearms that the criminals use range from an ineffective airgun to fancy, antique double-barrel shotguns to an ancient machine gun that looks like it hasn't been fired since D-day. There is also one scene with English subtitles to translate the slang, e.g., "bird's nest" means "chest."
This is the sort of movie in which a stranger in flames comes running out of a bar. He is never seen again, and why he was torched is never quite explained. In another scene the guys go into a pub that turns out to be a Samoan pub that serves strange-colored cocktails large enough to "hide an orangutan." To the director's credit, he has the good sense to take a serious approach to his bizarre little, dark comedy.
Scored to loud electric guitar music, the movie is as confidently presented as it is confusing. Subplots abound, and since the actors look so much alike, it is frequently unclear whose side each is on.
Although it ends in a Quentin Tarantino-style hail of violence, the movie has firmly established British roots. During a big heist, one of the robbers stops to fix himself an invigorating cup of tea.
LOCK, STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS runs 1:46. It is rated R for strong violence, pervasive profanity, sexuality and drug content and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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