LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS (director: Guy Ritchie; cast: Jason Flemyng (Tom), Dexter Fletcher (Soap), Nick Moran (Eddy), Jason Statham (Bacon), Vinnie Jones (Big Chris), Peter McNicholl (Son ), P.H. Moriarty (Hatchet Harry), Lenny McLean (Barry the Baptist), Sting (J.D.), Steven Mackintosh (Drug Dealer), Dog (Frank Harper),Vas Blackwood (Samoan Crime Boss), Suzy Ratner (Stoned Girl), Stephen Marcus (Nick the Greek), 1998-UK)
No heroes and no story are the main attributes for this futile attempt at a Trainspotting, Performance, The long Good Friday, and a Tarantino-like gangster/comedy, all rolled into one film, served up with an Eastender's sense of vile English humor, as this is writer/director Guy Ritchie's first feature film, formerly known for his video commercials. He tries every bit he could muster from the lore of gangster and screwball comedies, to make this film work, but still misses by a city mile.This is just a bad film. A Laurel and Hardy film would have looked like deep sardonic humor compared with this sophomoric effort.
Every character in the film tries to be a character, succeeding only in being a one-dimensional one, while women do not play a significant part in this unoriginal film, as they are reduced to being go-go girls or unnoticeable druggies.
Ritchie's aim for the film, is to keep the audience guessing at what is happening.
It all starts when four lame-brained Eastenders (Tom (Jason Flemying), Bacon (Jason Statham), Eddy (Nick) and Soap (Dexter Fletcher)) pool their life savings together to put one of them, Eddy, into a card game with a notorious crime boss and porn king and antique gun collector by nefarious means, Hatchet Harry (P.H.). Eddy who never loses an honest game, loses this crooked game, and has a week to pay off the half a million pounds debt or else his fingers and his friends' fingers will be taken off by Harry's thug, one day-at-a time. The thug is a Lionel Stander clone, but not even close to him in getting laughs, Barry the Baptist (Lenny). Lenny McLean was a former bare knuckle champion, who died shortly after the film was released.
Then the film gets slapstick happy and four gangs are going after a bundle of money, ripped-off a non-violent drug dealer and marijuana grower (Steven Mackintosh), who works for a Samoan crime boss, who looks like Little Richard, (Vas), as mix-ups, treachery, confusion and attitude become the thing, but with no group holding our attention for long, as the pace quickens, and each group goes for their little bit of violence and comedy, and we never stay focused on any one group, which was a major blunder in artistic direction; after all, this is supposed to be a movie, not a video commercial.
The gang ripping-off the drug dealer is led by a vicious thug, Dog (Harper), who is the neighbor of the four boys, as they overhear him planning the drug robbery, and they plan to rob him after he robs the drug dealer, which is the way they see themselves getting out of the jam they are in.
The film gets carried away with trying to be too clever, as one character is always trying to top the other in craziness.
Some of the many characters in the film who caught my eye were: Chris (Vinny Jones, who is the English bad-boy of soccer), who plays his hit man part with a killer's deadpan face, as he works with his equally business-like young son, (Peter McNicholl), as they both work for Harry. Thrown into the picture are a couple of inept burglars, a greedy middle man named Nick the Greek, a constantly stoned girl, a befuddled traffic cop, and Sting, as a bar owner and disapproving father of Eddy. As Eddy's dad, he can cancel the debt by handing over his bar, lock, stock and barrel to his old adversary, Harry, but chooses not to.
The plot has its twists and turns, and it would serve no purpose telling you about it, since the heart of the film, is about the surprises and corpses it delivers. Since the film's humor didn't suit me and I grew tired of seeing so many characters try to fit into such a small movie, with all of them being a composite of a boring and motley crew of stereotypes; and, the violence didn't particularly appeal to me, either, leaving me squirming in my seat with displeasure.
If you take my advise, you'd avoid this one. I think you would get more satisfaction, if you are hooked on this type of film, in seeing something like Reservoir Dogs, even if you must see it again, it is better than seeing this poor imitation once.
REVIEWED ON 5/28/99 GRADE: D
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
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