Lock & Stock - Pazzi scatenati

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels features a lot of local slang and Cockney accents and, while it is far from impossible to comprehend, you will be doing yourself a favour if you follow the dialogue in subtitles. In fact, even the unbearably annoying 'hard-of-hearing' option is welcomed. It follows a group of four very "working class" blokes as they try to help their friend Eddie (Nick Moran) get out of an enormous debt he amassed one night, playing high-roller with a local gang-boss that cheated. The lads resort to illegal ways to get the money, like ripping off their pot-selling next-door neighbours.

This is a really excellent film—entertaining; funny, exciting, and extremely realistic. The style is gorgeous. In fact, I have nothing bad at all to say about it except that it may not be everyone's cup of tea. You also have to be patient with it. That may have been my problem the first time I saw it because I can remember mixing up quite a few people when not paying attention.. Still, the realism of the situations make up for its occasionally slow pace and dialogue-driven plot. For instance, none of these working-class guys know how to handle a gun when they need to, and the result is hilarious. They're not goofy by any means, but they're just normal guys that struggle with the life of crime that they are forced to turn to in order to repay Eddie's debt. Also note the fantastic use of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges. 8/10

Guy Ritchie's hip, highly stylized 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' is a truly remarkable film, not only for its appropriately pyrotechnic camera work, but also for its seemingly flawless, puzzle-perfect script/screenplay. While the picture's main focus is on a group of lads who invest money in a high-stakes, rigged card game and lose, the broader story concerns approximately eight different groups of criminals whose paths cross (more> than once, in some cases) during various illegal pursuits: money, guns, drugs, even revenge. The film is quite violent, both on and off screen, but it's also uniformly humorous throughout. It's important to note that the four central characters (a cook, a card sharp, and a couple of guys who sell "discounted" items) are interested only in acquiring the money to pay off their enormous debt; they kill no one. The same applies to the laid-back college boys who "grow copious amounts of ganja".

The cast is comprised of mostly young, veteran, male actors. In fact, the only female in the film doesn't even speak, though she handles a machine gun fairly well. Sting appears briefly in several scenes as a bar-owning father figure. While his secondary performance is solid, as usual, it is also unmemorable. The soundtrack is first-rate, from the 60's hits of James Brown to the contemporary beats of London's underground. The groovy, pulsating music and lyrics are often succinctly synchronized with the action and dialogue in the film, creating a theatrical rhythm that is fairly uncommon in cinema (from any period).

Critics and audiences over the years have often dismissed stylized camera work as pretentious and unnecessary, stating that it detracts from the story, bogs it down, or pads it; however, the film medium has the luxury of actually "displaying" a story for its audience, unlike the written word alone. It's what the medium is all about -- it's VISUAL. Hence, one of the reasons a filmmaker chooses such visual displays is to "brand" his or her work, in the same way as writers like Cummings, Hemingway or Joyce did with their medium. It's hard to imagine a cinema without Hitchcock, Kubrick, or Scorsese to represent it. To this end, Ritchie has taken his first step in establishing his own brand. His energetic, ultra-contemporary camera work incorporates (through a fresh perspective) such devices as slow motion, fast motion, and freeze-frame coupled with narration. It is at times reminiscent of (and actually expands upon) Martin Scorsese's patented visual stylistics and camera movements, like those found in 'Mean Streets' and 'Goodfellas'. But the similarities with Scorsese's work end there.

Critics' endless comparisons of Ritchie's film with the works of Quentin Tarantino and Danny Boyle's 'Trainspotting' stand mostly unwarranted, as these comparisons take away from the inventiveness and originality of 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. Ritchie's film is a much more involved, complex, layered work than the aforementioned comparisons. While Tarantino's films are very strong on dialogue, screenplay, and editing, they often lack creative camera work and direction. Boyle's 'Trainspotting' does have a resembling "feel" to 'LS&TSB', but aside from its Great Britain origins, there really is no need for comparison. 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' is essential viewing.

I was a total and complete sucker for this film.

If I were to write and direct a movie about gangsters or crime, this would be it. I wouldn't change one damn thing. Not a thing. Everything in this film was, to my eye, perfect - casting, the camerawork, the excellent dialogue ("It's been emotional.")

Now I don't have much to compare this to, and I've heard some criticism that it basically draws quite heavily from older British crime dramas. I've got a bunch of these on my queue to rent, but I doubt you could make a crime film better than this.

This film oozes with style, class, dark humor, plot twists and turns, and doesn't drag one bit. The casting and characterization is perfect, and Ritchie isn't afraid to move the cameras around; no pretense is really made here at "realism" - Ritchie doesn't mask the fact that it's a film and he runs with it.

I really don't think of myself as easily impressed, and I have seen a hell of a lot of films in my time, but this one instantly made my Top 10 after only a single viewing. Yes, I'm raving about it, and while it may not be "spiritually enriching" or contain any deep sociological content (which I actually do look for in films), somehow it still scores as one hell of a film; memorable and entertaining, and stands up well to multiple viewings.

I am a bit dismayed to see some of the marketing of this film comparing it to other things like Quentin Tarantino films or Trainspotting. It really does it a disservice because this film really is its own phenomenon and stands on its own two feet; if anything it is similar to Trainspotting and Tarantino films only because it actually has its own bold style.

Can't recommend it enough.

Incredibly funny and entertaining story of four young "criminals" out for big money. This is one of the most intelligently written stories I've ever seen. If you like to write screenplays, let this one take you for a spin. Very fast paced film with great editing techniques and a hilarious cast and storyline thats sure to entertain, as long as you can handle the accents. Great cinematography as well. This story will send you through a cork screw. See it once, then see it again to see what you missed.

This is one seriously funny movie. I've probably seen it close to 10 times and it hasn't gotten old yet. Guy Ritchie brings us a hilarious look into the London criminal underground in one of his earliest features. The story revolves around four friends who become indebted to the local crime lord after a card game goes horribly wrong. The humor in this movie is sharp and fast-paced. At times, it becomes a little hard to keep up with the thick British accents and the cockney rhyming slang but overall, it doesn't detract from the movie. The movie keeps you guessing as to the outcome when the story becomes complex with multiple lies and double-crosses but the ending satisfies.

This film marks the debuts of two of England's coolest new actors: Jason Statham (who went on to do 'Transporter', among other movies) and Vinnie Jones (now a familiar cinema tough guy). Jones is especially good as Big Chris, debt collector/family man. The majority of the cast aren't common faces in America (aside from Sting) but they all have the charisma to keep the audience interested. Another plus is the film's soundtrack, ranging from reggae to 70's soul. It adds to the movie's already laid-back feel.

Everyone I've seen the movie with enjoys it (once they get past the thick accents, anyway) so I can say with confidence this is a fun movie. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good comedy and I feel this movie's humor hits more often than it misses. I'd recommend giving this movie a chance at least once and I don't think you'd be disappointed.