LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1999 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
It features a ne'er-do-well quartet of underachievers with names like Soap and Bacon. It's got a narrated, freeze-frame opening sequence in which two tossers bolt from the fuzz to a pulsating rock soundtrack. It's got heavily-accented dialogue that could benefit from subtitles, lots of ultraviolence, and a big bag of dosh.
It's not "Trainspotting," the trans-Atlantic junkie hit that saw Ewan McGregor (soon to be seen as the young Obi-Wan in the eagerly-awaited "Star Wars" prequel) shooting heroin like there was no tomorrow.
It's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," the latest anarchistic exercise to bear the slogan "the film that took England by storm."
Like Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting," Guy Ritchie's film finds strength in its cast of virtual unknowns, SAG-speaking that is. One face will be familiar to a particular British audience, but seen spattered with mud and blood on the small screen, not the big one.
Ah, the ¦uvre of the bad boy footballer turned movie star.
First, former Manchester United striker Eric Cantona had an unexpected turn as a French ambassador in the acclaimed costume drama, "Elizabeth." Now, not to be outdone by his former English league rival, Wimbledon midfielder Vinnie Jones has a sizable and affecting role in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."
Whereas M. Cantona was simply adequate as an historical dignitary, Jones' performance is surprisingly on the ball. Not just when he exhibits the kind of prowess he showed on the football field--a headbutt here, a kick to the groin there, a fist to the face elsewhere--but also when he portrays his character's odd sense of propriety and placidly threatening demeanor. Jones, appropriately attired, jeweled, and coifed, plays Big Chris, debt collector to a seedy porn king with the catchy moniker of Hatchet Harry.
Harry likes to play cards, and it's one of his high stakes poker games that first introduces us to our hapless heroes: Eddie, Tom, Bacon, and Soap.
Eddie is the brains of the bunch (and that's not saying much) who's known how to handle cards ever since he could handle cards. As the film opens, Eddie and his friends are scurrying to find the considerable funds necessary to enter Harry's card game. Cash in hand, Eddie enters the fray and eventually finds himself on the losing end of a pair of sevens (depressingly realistic hands for a change). Now the guys have a little problem: one week to come up with half a million pounds to pay off the hatchet man.
The clever and complicated plot twists and turns and finally comes full circle. Whereas the script is smart, our protagonists are not, and vast amounts of money change hands as often as the pair of antique firearms referred to in the title.
Writer/director Ritchie shoots all this with the grainy, sepia-toned imagery of an old-fashioned western. Whether it's an homage to that genre or an unabashed rip-off of "Trainspotting," one thing is clear: it's bloody funny. Better make that bloody *and* funny, since "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" spares very little in either department.
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@dca.net
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