LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS (1998) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1999 Ted Prigge
Writer/Director: Guy Ritchie Starring: Nick Moran, Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Jason Statham, P.H. Moriarty, Lenny McLean, Steven Mackintosh, Vas Blackwood, Frank Harper, Vinnie Jones, Peter McNicholl, Stephen Marcus, Steve Sweeney, Jake Abraham, Stephen Callender-Ferrier, Suzy Ratner, Sting
Here's a big shock, for ya: there's actually a film that has to do with crime, uses the now-dying Tarantino brand of love for crime and criminals as a backboard, and is filled to the brim with immense amounts of style over a minute amount of substance that, *shock*, actually works. I'm not so sure I believe it myself, but 'Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Bullets,' the new film from newcomer Guy Ritchie, is probably the first straight-up crime flick since 'Pulp Fiction' to actually breathe life into the overused genre. Ever since 'Pulp Fiction' came out, the necessity of others to make films just like it has plagued us and only recently begun to seriously decline, not just because the Tarantino style has gone out of style, but also because no one could ever actually capture that feeling that 'Pulp' introduced. What makes 'Lock, Stock...' work is that while it's obviously inspired by Tarantino, it's also been inspired by the great British crime flick, 'The Long Good Friday,' and the hybrid of the two, I suppose, has bred this: a film that is jam-packed (and I mean jam-packed) with interesting characters who are all, in some way, related to crime; features a plethora of nasty violence (shootings, stabbings, beatings, burnings, even a hatchet in the back or two); possesses a complex amount of plots and subplots; and has a streak of humor that is not necessarily black or quirky as much as it is traditionally 'British.'
In fact with all of that compressed into about 105 minutes of film, it's actually a bit tough to follow. But the main plot is this: a foursome of young London Eastenders, who hardly need the money, enter their unofficial leader (Nick Moran), who's ace at cardplaying (he can sense emotions easily), into a high-stakes poker game with a local mob boss, named Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty, incidentally from 'The Long Good Friday'). Turns out, duh, that Harry cheats with the help of his enormously menacing assistant, Barry the Baptist (the late Lenny McLean, once a real-life bouncer and ruffian), and once they lose, Barry informs them that they have only three days to get what they owe in to him. Meanwhile, another gang, who lives next door to them, are devising a scheme to rob a local pot dealer (Steven Mackintosh) of his cash on the day it's being transferred to another local mob boss, Jamaican Rory Breaker (Vas Blackwood). Thus the main gang decides to rob that gang. Also meanwhile, in another part of town, two inept crooks are hired by Barry to steel some very expensive antique rifles from a mansion, and, believe it or not, they become involved slightly in everything that goes on.
I'll refrain from revealing any more, as part of the fun is just trying to keep up with the plotty plot, while another part of the fun is trying to keep track of who's who. This film must feature about 25 main characters, some who actually look alike, but all of whom have catchy, quirky names, like Nick the Greek, that are instantly reminiscent of the heydays of Tarantino (oh those were the days). And, surprise, much of this film rides high on the enormous amount of style that comes along with it. Guy Ritchie has pretty much officially overdirected this film, employing slowing down a shot then speeding it up frantically, freezing frames and spinning around a subject, using bizarro angles and lenses to distort the picture, the occasional use of narration to sum things up (this was my favorite effect, I must add), witty direction (when you see a guy throwing carrots into a pot from the POV of the pot, you really should have no doubt Ritchie worked in commercials) and usage of about 35 years of music in designing the soundtrack, which features everything from new stuff to James Brown and Dusty Springfield. To tell you the truth, it looks a lot like a Gap commercial.
And, predictably enough, throughout much of this film, with all the style and glitz that accompanies it, we don't really care what happens to anyone. There's no real characterization here, and it would almost seem like if the film had decided to concentrate on another group of characters in this film and not our lead foursome, there'd really not be much of a difference. And as much as this sounds like a criticism, it's not. I enjoyed this film. There's no real big reason why: it's just bloody entertaining stuff. I liked the use of style way over substance (particularly the poker scene, which is phenomenal to look at), and I liked how the film took an objective look at all the characters and never actually deepened them (in a film like this, depth of anything would be distracting beyond recognition). Hell, I even liked the fact that this film actually coasted on style for most of it. I suppose if I had to actually come up with a concrete reason why I actually think any of this is worth a teensy bit of merit is: it has energy. This movie's alive. Movies aren't much alive these days, but this film is so energetic and filled with zeal that you can almost sense that making this film must have been the most fun thing in the cast and crews' lives. And this is conveyed to the audience in the way that it's been designed, through the humor and the unserious tone, which could otherwise be interpreted as posing.
But even if this stuff is not your average cup of tea, the final act is so brutally wicked and devilish that it's as if the first two acts, the exposition and the chief robberies, were only leading up to the hilarious way in which the film ties up all its loose ends. At least three quarters of the cast of characters get done away with, and by the end, everything (or at least almost everything) has been dealt with in such a satisfying and Machiavellian manner that it'd be tough not to leave the theater with a big stupid grin on your face, giggling about what you just saw. But even so, throughout there's such a good amount of humor that watching it is breathlessly entertaining (all clichés aside, British humor really is pretty much the best kind, at least I think so), from the little one-liners (quoting Winston Churchill on the subject of gold whilst torturing a victim) to the small idiosyncrasies (one crook's fascination with his poofy hair) to the hysterical bits of casting (most hysterical: Sting, yes Sting, as Moran's bartender father - the camera seems to linger over him whenever he shows up, as if someone offscreen is about to shout out 'Hey! Isn't that recording artist Sting?!?!?!'). Even the acting is spotlessly superb, with our four leads being instantly likable (esp. Moran), and the biggest accolades going to McLean and professional soccer player/hooligan Vinnie Jones as soft-spoken yet still enforceful collector Big Chris (with his dry little son, Little Chris).
Basically, this is the most furiously entertaining movie I've seen so far this year (big challenge)...yet, that may actually be a part of its partial undoing. It's so furious and so busy trying to always be unpredictable and wild that I wonder if this film actually holds up over repeated viewings. Maybe this film will be one of those films where the initial viewing is always the best, while others slowly degrade in quality. Yet, there's still that initial viewing, which was so demanding of attention, so witty, and so entertaining that it's hardly a shock that it's not completely satisfying. You're more or less bound to have a blast watching it, that is, if you don't take any of it seriously (this includes the style which, once upon a time, may have been considered, *ahem*, 'Brilliant'). Even then, though, even not taking it the least big seriously, I couldn't help but describe this film to a friend in one damning word: 'cute.' Fun flick; doubt I'd think so after three viewings. Yet, strangely enough, I can't wait to see it again.
MY RATING (out of 4): ***
Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/8335/
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews