Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Guy Ritchie

Writer:

Guy Ritchie (writer)

Release Date:

5 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

A Disgrace to Criminals Everywhere.

Plot:

Four London working class stiffs pool their money to put one in a high stakes card game, but things go wrong and they end up owing half a million pounds and having one week to come up with the cash.

Plot Keywords:

England | Pub | London England | Stripper | Poker Player

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 13 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Jason Flemyng	...	Tom
Dexter Fletcher	...	Soap
Nick Moran	...	Eddie
Jason Statham	...	Bacon
Steven Mackintosh	...	Winston
Nicholas Rowe	...	J
Nick Marcq	...	Charles
Charles Forbes	...	Willie
Vinnie Jones	...	Big Chris
Lenny McLean	...	Barry the Baptist
Peter McNicholl	...	Little Chris
P.H. Moriarty	...	'Hatchet' Harry Lonsdale
Frank Harper	...	Dog
Steve Sweeney	...	Plank
Huggy Leaver	...	Paul

Also Known As:

Two Smoking Barrels (USA)
Juegos, trampas y dos armas humeantes (Argentina) (Colombia) (cable TV title) [es]
A Ravasz, az Agy és két füstölgö puskacsö (Hungary) [hu]
Arnaques, combines et botanique (Canada: French title) [fr]
Arnaques, crimes et botanique (France) [fr]
Atesten kalbe akildan dumana (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Bube Dame König grAs (Germany) [de]
Jogos, Trapaças e Dois Canos Fumegantes (Brazil) [pt]
Lock & Stock (Spain) [es]
Lock & Stock - pazzi scatenati (Italy) [it]
Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (Japan: English title) [en]
Puuta, heinää ja muutama vesiperä (Finland) [fi]
Rub, stub & to rygende geværer (Denmark) [da]
Sbal prachy a vypadni (Czech Republic) [cs]
Uma Mal Nunca Vem Só (Portugal) [pt]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

107 min | 120 min (director's cut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A) | Brazil:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Canada:18A | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bethnal Green Town Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England, UK

Company:

HandMade Films

Trivia:

Jason Statham has in real life worked as a street vendor, similar to the character he plays in the opening of the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dog is hitting golf balls at the guy strung up in the door way, he changes to a 5 iron and takes a swing. In the next shop he's holding the wood again.

Quotes:

Soap: Rory Breaker? That psychotic black dwarf with an Afro?
Tom: That would be the same man, yes.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Movie Connections: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (#1.4)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Hundred Mile High City

Seriously addictive movie - The most balanced movie ever made?

The first time I saw this movie I had difficulty in understanding a lot of the dialogue not just because of the weird accent, but because the actors spoke so damn fast. But despite this I became literally addicted to it. To begin with my wife got pretty annoyed because any other movie we rented would be ejected after about 20 minutes of viewing and in would go LS&2SB. Now she is hooked as well.

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen LS&2SB and still cannot put my finger on why I find this movie so good to watch. I suppose the most obvious feature of this movie is that it is beautifully balanced between being serious and humorous at the same time. The characters are two-dimensional. The villains are menacing, and yet they are made to look like idiots, and the good guys think they are so smart yet keep getting the rug pulled from under them. They are all projected as 'cool' yet the situation is always out of their control. Maybe it could be called a satire on true life.

The style of this movie is unique, full stop. I cannot think of any movie that can be compared to LS&2SB. Quite a few people say that the style is a mix of 'Pulp Fiction', 'Goodfellas', 'Trainspotting' and 'Reservoir Dogs', but I think that you would make that kind of description only if you are really desperate to match LS&2SB to something.

The best description I can think of is 'MTV does a crime comedy', and I honestly don't think there is anything wrong with that. Like music videos, it is all non-stop movement and sound. Something is always happening but unlike music videos, not without reason.

The humor is incredibly sharp yet 'as a matter of fact'. No one is really trying to be extraordinarily funny, but again it is the balance between being menacingly serious and funny that the humor really flies at you. I think that it is for this reason that a few people are really disappointed with LS&2SB. If you are expecting a 'belly laugh Leslie Nielson, Jim Carrey, Steve Martin, typecasted' type all out comedy, or a serious 'Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, DeNiro typecasted crime thriller, you will find this movie a big let down.

My favorite characters are Rory Breaker (Vas Blackwood) and Big Chris (Vinnie Jones) mainly because their two dimensional over-the-top characters are the most obvious. Big Chris takes his son with him debt collecting, and while he beats up someone who owes chastises him for swearing in front of his son and Rory Breaker is the most idiotic drug-lord you could come up with.

I haven't even mentioned the excellent and unique camerawork, speaker blowing soundtrack, beautifully threaded plot, perfect ending and the grittiest visuals I've seen. You wont see any reflective glass laden sky scrapers here, or 'over head city shots', or incredible special effects. This movie has actors I have never heard of, dialogues that you have to rewind and replay to understand, buildings that look as though they have been condemned for demolition, cars that wouldn't even be seen in our scrap yards, has probably been made with a budget that most movies in Hollywood use for make-up alone, has no love scenes, or romance or complex relationships, no Oscar-worthy performances, and yet is perfect entertainment.

Where our movies normally rely on budgets, this movie works on human talent alone.

If any movie deserves a 10 out of 10, then this is it.

'And there's one more thing...............it's been emotional'