Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Director: Guy Ritchie
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Four East End lads (Moran, Flemyng, Statham and Fletcher) are desperate to get sumfin' for nuffin'. Their fate hinges on a card game with mobster Hatchet Harry (Moriarty), but he's a wise old bird and by the end of the evening they're half a million in debt. The four hatch a new plan to intercept a shipment of drugs. And that's where a few others - like debt collector Big Chris (soccer player Jones) and the public school druggies - come in. Whatever else, writer/director Ritchie knows how to wield a camera; and his feature debut comes alive every time the soundtrack rears its beautiful head. He also knows how to pick faces. But is Jones more than just an ugly face? On the A-Z of emotions, he barely makes it to B. So why is he here? The gangster genre has always dabbled in cross-fertilisation, but here it seems a particularly lazy move. Ritchie's not interested in exploring the economics behind the 'Cockney rebel' facade, nor the real sadism (and masochism) crawling alongside. Expect plenty of laughs and some edge-of-your-seat sweats, but not a whole lot else. Attempting to marry Oliver Twist with Trainspotting, this ends up more like a bloody episode of TV's Minder.Author: CO'Su
Cast & crew
Director: Guy Ritchie
Producer: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh, Vinnie Jones, PH Moriarty full cast
Genre(s): Gangsters
Duration: 106 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now