Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Review

by Michael Dequina (twotrey AT juno DOT com)
March 6th, 1999
_Lock,_Stock_and_Two_Smoking_Barrels_ (R) *** (out of ****)

Take a dash of _Trainspotting_'s scuzziness and generous helpings of the oeuvre of Tarantino, and you've got an extremely derivative film. But if the film is as entertaining as first-time writer-director Guy Ritchie's fresh and fun _Lock,_Stock..._--a smash in its native Great Britain--the lack of originality hardly matters.

Ritchie takes his time setting up the players in this story about a foursome of inept small-time hoods (Nick Moran, Jason Flemyng, Jason Statham, and Dexter Fletcher) who stage a heist to pay off a gambling debt owed to a crime boss (P.H. Moriarty). The fact that these players are lacking any real depth or substance is actually of little consequence, for Ritchie drops them in a clever, complex, and comic caper that takes its share of unexpected twists and turns. It may not a perfect debut for Ritchie, but the visual flair and ingenious plotting he displays with _Lock,_Stock..._ leaves one optimistic about his future efforts.

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Michael Dequina
mrbrown@iname.com | michael_jordan@geocities.com
Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown
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