Right OK another post then and just for a change from the James Bond ones I thought I would do a review on another British film, Guy Ritchie's debut, Lock, stock and two smoking barrels. So let's load up those barrels, get the balaclavas on look at this mother....
The film's story centres around four friends, Eddy (Nick Moran), Tom (Jason Flemying), Soap (Dexter Fletcher) and Bacon (Jason Statham) who are small time criminals and together they put up £100,000 so Eddy, a top card player, can play in a high stakes card game run by the local gangster, "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale (P.H. Moriarty). However the game turns out to be rigged and Eddy ends up being in serious debt to Harry who gives Eddy a deadline to repay the money, although he realises Eddy most likely can't meet the deadline and also has eyes on his father's bar, JD (Sting). Harry in the meantime also has his eyes set on a pair of antique shotguns up for auction, and he sends his main enforcer Barry "The Baptist" (Lenny McLean) to hire a couple of thieves, Gary (Victor McGuire) and Dean (Jake Abraham) to get them. However both men prove to be incredibly inept and they end up selling the guns onto a local fence, Nick "The Greek" (Stephen Marcus) much to the anger of Barry who threatens them to get the guns back.
Eddy meanwhile after having no success in trying to secure the money he owes Harry, overhears his next door neighbours, who are a bunch of thieves lead by the volatile Dog (Frank Harper) who plan to rob a group of marijuana growers, who apparently have a large stash of cash and drugs. Eddy tells his friends about the robbers and suggests they rob them themselves after they return from their heist and in preparation, Tom buys the antique shotguns from Nick the Greek. The robbers carry out their heist successfully, despite losing one of their own men in the process, and when they return they are ambushed by Eddy and the others who take the money and the stash of marijuana. Eddy and the others decides to keep the money and with the help of Nick, sell the drugs on to a local drug dealer, Rory Breaker (Vas Blackwood). However to complicate matters its turns out that the stash of drugs in fact belonged to Rory in the first place and he then threatens Nick into telling Eddy's address. Eddy in the meantime celebrates with his friends, but at the same time Dog's gang accidentally find out that it was Eddy and the others that robbed them and they decide to set up an ambush. However at the same time Rory and his men turn up at Eddy's place and a gunfight ensues leaving mostly everyone dead, except Dog who escapes with the shotguns Harry was after. And at that point Harry's debt collector, Big Chris (Vinnie Jones) turns up to grab the guns from Dog, who later threatens Chris's son at knife point when Chris returns to his car, but Chris manages to disable Dog by crashing his car and he then kills him by repeatedly slamming his head in the car door. And from here the film moves toward its entertaining climax.....
Lock, stock remains a very impressive film debut by Guy Ritchie as it is a film which is filled with well written characters who all have some pretty snappy dialogue written by Ritchie himself. Ritchie also throughout cleverly builds up the situations in the film and ties together the film's plot strands very nicely as it moves towards its ending and he seems to revel in bringing to life these colourful Cockeny gangsters. The film also saw the emergence of Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham who went on to have successful film careers (well more so Statham than Vinnie I'd probably say) as a result and both men would make a reappearance in Ritchie's second film, Snatch.
Performance wise Lock, stock is also really good and it features a fine cast, starting with Nick Moran as Eddy, the cocky card sharp who ends up in serious debt to the gangster, "Hatchett" Harry. Moran has some good scenes in the film such as the scene where we see Eddy practice shuffle cards with his eyes closed. Also there is the scene where he finds that Harry has been killed as well as Rory and the next door neighbours and he says to his friends "What I do know is that there is no more Harry. Which mean's there is no more debt. And if there's no more debt, there's no more problem. And there's no problem with the neighbours as they are all dead. And I think, if I get this right, we haven't done anything wrong.... we're in the clear!". And then there is the scene where Eddy and the others having just robbed their neighbours and take their van, find a barely conscious traffic warden in the back and Eddy says "I fucking hate traffic wardens!" and they all go in the back and knock the crap out of him!
Vinnie Jones who made his film debut here is actually pretty good in his role as the hardman, debt collector, Big Chris who works for "Hatchet" Harry. Jones also has some really good moments in the film that include his first scene where he intimidates a client who owes money in a tanning salon and Big Chris repeatedly slams the lid of the tanning bed on him while complimenting him on having "a lovely tan by the way!". And Big Chris's son, Little Chris finds the clients wallet filled with money and says "Fucking hell!" and Big Chris barks back "Oi! You use language like that again, son and you'll wish you hadn't!". And at the end of the scene Big Chris warns the client "You can go home in a plastic bag tonight, John. You owe what you owe. And by the time this tan has faded, you will want to have paid!" and he punches him! Then there is the scene where Big Chris meets with JD, Eddy's father and tells him that "Harry wants your bar" and JD tells him "You can tell Harry to go fuck himself!" and Big Chris looks surprised and says "I'll put that down to shock, now only once, and only once shall I allow you to get away with that". Then there is one of the film's rare dramatic moments where Big Chris crashes his car to disable Dog from holding his son hostage in the back seat, and Chris slams Dog's head in the door yelling "NEVER! EVER!! HAS ANYONE BEEN AS RUDE TO ME AS YOU, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!" before spitting on his dead body and walking away with his son. And in the same scene Big Chris walks up to Eddy's car, whom he collided into, who lies back unconscious from the impact and Chris says "You alright mate?" but then he clocks the bag of money owed to Harry, which he had already given back and takes it saying "You cheeky bastard!". And at the end of the film Jones has a really good moment where he brings back the shotguns and the bag to Eddy and the others. And he says to them re: Harry "It seems he understimated you lot and it seems to have cost him. And now this presents me with a problem as I'm now without an employer. So I've taken care of myself and my son. If you have a problem with that you can pay me a little visit. But you better be waving a white flag high and clear so I can see it, or it'll be the last visit you ever make. Oh and one more thing, its been emotional".
Jason Statham while he doesn't have the most prominent role in the film also does well with his part as Bacon, Eddy's friend, who is easily the hardest out the four of them. Statham also has some good moments in the film such as the scene where he tells Soap a story about Harry and how he killed a former employee of his. "Harry lost his rag, reached out for the nearest thing at hand, which happened to be a 15 inch black rubber cock and he then proceeded to beat Smithy to death with it! Now that was seen as a pleasant way to go. Hence, Hatchett Harry is a man you pay if you owe". And another good scene is where Bacon and the others enter a Soamon bar and he is given a ridiculously large cocktail and he barman tells him he asked for a cocktail and Bacon replise "No I asked you for a refreshing drink! I wasn't expecting a fucking rain forrest! You could fall in love with an orangutan in that!". And lastly there is the scene where Eddy and the others rob their next door neighbours, and as they tie up Dog who says "I'll find you" Bacon says "course you will sweetheart! What do you think this is? Fucking hide and seek?!".
P.H. Moriarty does well in his part as the gangster, "Hatchet" Harry who gives Eddy a deadline to get his debt back and he also is keen on retrieving the antique shotguns. Moriarty also has some good scenes in the film such as the one where Harry tells Barry he wants him to hire two men to rob the stately house to acquire the shotguns and he warns Barry "I don't want to know who you use, as long as they're not complete muppets!". Then there is the scene when Harry meets Eddy at the card game and he says to him "You must be Eddy, JD's son" and Eddy sarcastically replies "Yeah, you must be Harry. Sorry didn't know your father" and Harry warns Eddy "Never mind, son, you just might meet him if you carry on like that!". Another amusing scene is when Harry talks to Barry and Big Chris about how Chris should pay Eddy a visit and he asks them both some questions such as "I mean its enough to give me the arsehole, and I can't have the arsehole, can I boys?" and Barry and Big Chris keep replying "No Arry, you can't!". And lastly there is the moment where Harry speaks to Dean and Gary on the phone and threatens them to get the shotguns back by saying "You get me what I want or your families are bang in trouble!".
Then there is Lenny McLean who is great in his role as Harry's main enforcer, Barry "The Baptist" nicknamed as such because he intidimates his victims but dunking and drowning them! And Lenny get's some priceless lines in the film and the main one that stands out is when Gary and Dean tell Barry that they sold the guns on and Barry doesn't want to listen to their excuses yells at them "I'm NOT FUCKING INTERESTED! If you don't wanna be counting the fingers you haven't got then I suggest you go and get those guns! QUICK!!!". Then there is the scene where Barry meets with Dean and Gary for the first time to tell them where to get the shotguns and Gary asks "Guns? You mean guns that fire shots?" and Barry replies "Oh you must be the brains of the operation! Yes, guns that fire shots". And at the end of the scene both Barry and Gary deliver two of the film's funniest lines, as they end their meeting Barry walks away saying to himself "Fucking Northen monkeys!" and Gary says to Dean "I hate these fucking Southern fairies!". And later on in his final scene where Gary and Dean unwittingly ambush Harry's office and Gary shoots Harry dead, Barry sitting on the sofa behind him throws a hatchet into Gary's back and he turns and shoots Harry and says "What the fuck are you doing here??!" and Harry clutching his chest, where Gary had shot him looks on incredulously saying "What the FUCK are you doing here?!" before dying.
Frank Harper also proves to be quite effective in his role as the villainous hardman, Dog, who robs the marijuana growers and also later meets his end at the hands of Big Chris. Harper also has some good moments in the film such as the scene where Dog and his gang rob the marijuana growers hideout and one of the groups, a girl suddenly appears from nowhere and picks up a Bren gun (from one of the Dog's men) and shoots one of them dead. And afterward Dog walks up to her and says "Where the fuck did she come from?!" and he knocks her out. And then there is the scene where Dog berates his men after they have been robbed themselves by Eddy and the others (who were masked). And Dog yells at them "So we've got a bit of a problem! In fact its a bit more than a bit of a problem. Its the mountain fucking Everest of problems! And the reason its such a fucking monstrosity of a problem is YOU HAVEN'T GOT THE FIRST IDEA WHO DID THIS TO US, HAVE YA!!". And Dog's men sheepishly say they had been looking out all night and lined folk up and if it was someone locally they would know which causes Dog to explode "YOU'D KNOW?! YOU'D FUCKING KNOW???!! YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IF IT WAS THE NEXT DOOR FUCKING NEIGHBOURS! Now get out of here! I'm sick of the sight of ya!" and he kicks one of his who's head goes through the wall who finds recording equipment lying infront of him!
Vas Blackwood is also great in his part as the ruthless and somewhat eccentric drug dealer, Rory Breaker. And Blackwood's best scene comes when he confronts the local fence, Nick "The Greek" over his missing ganja. And he says to Nick "How is it your soon to be dead friends thought they might be able to steal my cannabis and then sell it back to me? Is this a declaration of war?! Is this some white cunts joke that black cunts don't get?! Cause I'm not fucking laugh Ni-ko-las!!". And then he walks towards Nick and says to him straight "If you're holding anything back, I'll kill ya. If you bend the truth or I think you're bending the truth, I'll kill ya! In fact you're gonna have to work very hard to stay alive, Nick. Now do you understand everything I've just said? Cause if you don't, I'll kill ya! Now Mr Bubble and Squeak, you may enlighten me".
And last of all there is the duo of Dexter Fletcher and Jason Flemying (who also went to appear in most of if not all of Guy Ritchie's films and even in Matthew Vaughan's) who do well enough in their respectives roles of Soap and Tom. Soap often winds up his other friends, particularly Tom by saying how "Fat" Tom is despite the fact he isn't! And Soap says that in one scene to Tom "Tom, the fatter you get, the sadder you get!". Fletcher also has a good line where he proposes they use knives to "shit up" the next door neighbours for when they ambush them "Make its look like we're serious. Guns for show, knives for a pro". And of course Flemying plays a key part in the film's climax where he get's rid of the guns by dumping off a bridge, only to find they haven't fallen over into the Thames but instead are lying on a lower section of the bridge and he dangles over the side of the bridge in an effort to get them only then for his phone to ring as Eddy and the others desparately try to get ahold of him! And last last of all is Alan Ford, who has a small role in the film as Alan who works for JD, but Ford also narrates the film too.
Finally getting onto the director and writer, Guy Ritchie does a fine job here in his debut and he shows a stylish visual sense behind the camera as well as his ability to write a good story and sharp dialogue. Ritchie uses a good visual effect in the scene where Eddy has just got himself into serious debt as he stumbles nervously out of the card game the camera goes all blurry and emphasises his panicked, dizzy state. Ritchie also complements the film's visuals with a grainy and muted colour palette as the film appears to have had a bleach bypass which lends to the film's criminal underworld and overall grimy tone. Music wise Ritchie also pulls together a good soundtrack for the film which features a variety of different tracks such as "Spooky" by Dusty Springfield, "I wanna be your dog" by Iggy Pop and the Stooges, "The Payback" by James Brown, Stone Roses "Fool's gold", "Liar, Liar" by the Castaways and last of all "18 with a bullet" by Pete Wingfield.
As for Lock, stock's flaws..... well it has to be said there are the odd niggle or two, for starters I thought that Ritchie's visuals in some scenes where just a bit too flashy and distracting particularly during the scene where Eddy and his mates get's pissed up to celebrate their robbery being a success. I also felt that the film is somewhat overloaded with eccentric and edgy characters and some of them tend to grate on you little such as the weed growers, particularly Winston, who leads the group. Ritchie at times also appears to try and be a bit too clever for his own good at times with the film's narrative and his use of cockney, which is however amusingly subtitled at one point in the film however during the scene where a barfly tells Tom a bit about Rory (the barfly was played by Danny John Jules, of Red Dwarf). I also felt that Eddy's character was a bit of a dick as well as he was just basically being a cocky git who fancied his chances at taking Harry at the card game but was ultimately too naive to see he was being duped and in doing so landed the rest of his friends in deep doo-doo. And out of the main characters I would say that Eddy was probably the weakest one and it also begs the question what has happened to Nick Moran since the film??? (well OK he did appear in the last two Harry Potter films so he has done something since).
But all that aside Lock, Stock is still a really entertaining crime comedy thriller film which after 17 years (yep unreal!) its still worth a watch and it holds up well. Just a pity that most of Ritchie's films since then hasn't done so well, but that's another story.
And with that I shall bid yee goodnight!
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