Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

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.