The film had me alternating between a sugar high and drowsiness. One minute, I struggled to keep awake; the next, I was jumping in my seat. Neither extreme is particularly pleasurable.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:50
Fresh:36
Rotten:14
Average Rating:6.7/10
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: A brutally comic tale about a group of London friends who find themselves deep in debt to an East End tough, LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS is quick-paced, stylized, and highly entertaining.... A brutally comic tale about a group of London friends who find themselves deep in debt to an East End tough, LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS is quick-paced, stylized, and highly entertaining. In his debut feature film, director-writer Guy Ritchie weaves a tangled web of shady, blithely eccentric characters and several storylines, all of them coming together in a gleeful explosion of murder and mayhem. When streetwise charmer Eddy (Nick Moran), the son of steely bar owner JD (Sting), botches a gambling scheme with his dad's nemesis, porn king Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty), he's got one week to come up with 500,000 pounds or he loses his fingers--and so do his friends Tom (Jason Flemyng), Bacon (Jason Statham), and Soap (Dexter Fletcher). While the pals scheme to make the money, Harry indulges his penchant for valuable antique shot guns, stolen for him by a couple of inept burglars. Soon the missing guns, a paranoid group of marajuana growers, a mean-spirited debt collector (Vinnie Jones) and his young son, and a violent bunch of thugs, are all thrown together in this tightly-woven, genuinely funny story that takes its inspiration from old British comic gangster flicks like THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN and more recent films like RESERVOIR DOGS and THE USUAL SUSPECTS. [More]
Starring: Jason Flemyng, Jason Statham, Dexter Fletcher, Vinnie Jones
Starring: Jason Flemyng, Jason Statham, Dexter Fletcher, Vinnie Jones, Nick Moran, Steven Mackintosh, Sting
Director: Guy Ritchie
Director: Guy Ritchie
Screenwriter: Guy Ritchie
Producer: Matthew Vaughn
Composer: David Hughes, John Murphy
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Reviews for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
What starts out as a hodgepodge of Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting and Reservoir Dogs slowly becomes as enjoyable and visually stylish as the films from which Lock, Stock draws its comparisons.
The film's lures, while undeniable, are synthetic, and we never do learn what fuels all the greed besides pints of beer.
Johnny Rotten circa 1977 couldn't have directed a more joyously obnoxious bit of tomfoolery.
We've heard it all before, and usually with a slightly more comprehensible accent.
Ritchie handles his convoluted plot and frenetic pacing with elan and sprinkles it all with liberal doses of black humor and lots of quotable dialogue.
Because the film has to split its running time among so many different characters, all of whom look alike and act alike but have different names, I got rather bored.
A clever, complex, and comic caper that takes its share of unexpected twists and turns.
Go see it if you're in the mood. You're bound to get a chuckle, but don't expect too much.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a movie with absolutely nothing to say.
With it's likeable band of rogue heroes, comedic situations and standout performances is a great way to spend two hours.
Lock, Stock is fun, in a slapdash way; it has an exuberance, and in a time when movies follow formulas like zombies, it's alive.
The cast is revved up to sizzle, with Sting in a smallish role, and the thick cockney dialogue is more comprehensible than you might think.
Latest News for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
September 26, 2008:
RT Interview: Jason Statham Chats Death Race, Crank 2 and The Sweeney
RT catches up with Jason Statham to learn more about the Death Race and grill him on upcoming turns in Crank 2, Transporter 3 and the possibility of an appearance in Nick Love's... More...
September 05, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Rocknrolla Rocks, Disaster Movie = Movie Disaster
It's not a vintage week for releases this week, but it's nevertheless encouraging to see the two big British releases getting their fair share of plaudits. Guy Ritchie returns... More...
July 27, 2007:
Guy Ritchie to Adapt His Own Gamekeeper for WB
You may know Guy Ritchie from movies like "Lock, Stock" and "Snatch," but he also co-wrote a comic book called "Gamekeeper" -- which is about to be made into a movie by Warner... More...
March 22, 2007:
RT-UK Exclusive: Edit Suite Report and New Pics for "Stardust"
In an otherwise unremarkable office building in London's trendy Soho, the clichés are out in force; magic is being made, fantasies are coming to life and dreams are being... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
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| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
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