X
- 1999
- R
- Gramercy Pictures (I)
- 1 h 47 m
- 1999
- R
- Gramercy Pictures (I)
- 1 h 47 m
Summary In this wild comedy of errors, a group of London friends find themselves deep in debt to an unsavory underworld figure.
Directed By: Guy Ritchie
Written By: Guy Ritchie
- 1999
- R
- Gramercy Pictures (I)
- 1 h 47 m
- 1999
- R
- Gramercy Pictures (I)
- 1 h 47 m
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
66
8.2
Where to Watch
Summary In this wild comedy of errors, a group of London friends find themselves deep in debt to an unsavory underworld figure.
Directed By: Guy Ritchie
Written By: Guy Ritchie
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
66
77% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
13% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
10% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Generally favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
66
77% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
13% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
10% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Dark, dangerous and a great deal of wicked, amoral fun. A film that manages to be as clever, playful and mock violent as its title, Lock, Stock was a major hit in its native Britain and its cheeky tone, simultaneously calculated and off the cuff, is as hip as anyone could want. [5 Mar 1999]
There are so many balls in the air in the cheerfully violent Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, you'll want to wear a helmet for fear they'll all come crashing down.
User Score
Universal acclaim
Based on 255 User Ratings
8.2
87% Positive
222 Ratings
222 Ratings
9% Mixed
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
4% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
User Score
Universal acclaim
Based on 255 User Ratings
8.2
87% Positive
222 Ratings
222 Ratings
9% Mixed
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
4% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
This is about as good a movie about the East End that you can get. Not sure Americans can get the layers and implications, however, stating fact, Americans cannot make movies like this. Beneath every grimace, scowl or threatening words, there's history and culture and classes. The toffs as opposed to the yardies and the locals make this a treasure. Even though all Brits understand each other, language is only half the picture. Our verbals tell us within a few sentences almost everything about that person. Education, social class, status etc. Our villains are true villains. Well hard! Blokes who'll put it about with their fists and character. The multi layers of any interaction actually mean, unless you are from the UK, you get only 50% of the communication. We are connected in such a way that the Queen's beans on toast would be the same as the lad from Peckham. Prince Phillip is excluded since he is as unBrit as Madge, (Madonna). We actually live and die together as a nation, as one. We really know each other!
This movie weaves East End culture like a Terry McCann, Arfur Daley episode. Essentially it's a gem!
Something that reflects everything British, not the PBS codswallop, Americans are enamored with.
It makes one almost sad that everyone except a Brit is able to understand the complexity and wonder that this movie is. That beautiful language that is evident, took centuries. The slang and violence doesn't convey except to a non Brit, just how gentle and patient the people are. Eg. and this isn't racist, simply trying to convey the beauty that is Britain. Black players are revered in Milwall.
The language used here is probably baffling to non Brits, which is exactly the effect intended. Unless you know specifically what you are talking about Critics, you only demonstrate ignorance and how daft you really are.
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A special weapon unto itself. Spring-loaded with cockney esprit, it peppers its audience with aggressive, sarcastic grapeshot. That's English for "fun," by the way.
[It's] like Tarantino crossed with the Marx Brothers, if Groucho had been into chopping off fingers...Fun, in a slapdash way; it has an exuberance, and in a time when movies follow formulas like zombies, it's alive.
Though Ritchie’s screenplay scores a 10 for sheer complexity and cleverness, it rates much lower down the scale for comprehensibility and audience involvement.
Flashy, random shifts of film speed and a true rogues' gallery of striking if one-note characters, do hold interest even if they have no real right to. The commercial aspects also deflect attention from the fact that this story has almost no center at all.
The laborious title of an even more laborious Cockney action movie that some people think is the cat's pajamas crossbred with the bee's knees.
I watched this film for the first time over the weekend and thought it was brilliant. I thought it was cleverly done and was hooked from the start. Why I hadn't seen it before I don't know. I am not planning to book a locations tour from here: ****/bookings/lock-stock-and-two-smoking-barrels-locations-tour and also watch some more of Guys Richie's movies!
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the needy from the greedy..
Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
If its anything that enlightens this sketchy gangsta feature, its the gripping and hilarious screenplay which even though walks on the same tone in each phase works like a charm. Guy Ritchie's eerie execution and tone takes time to settle in but the writing part is too strong for anything to factor in which later on creates issues as it is a flat out zero on character's perspective. And on terms of performance level, the feature delivers the expectancy and nothing beyond than that for the actors weren't given enough space and range in it. Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels is of course a plot driven movie that satisfies the fantasy of gangsta movie goers as it spices it up with comic sequences but as far as genuine reasoning, characters and practicality is concerned; its a no go.
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It was impossible for me to become involved with this film. None of the actors convinced me. Every line of dialogue they spat out sounded so forced, like they didn't believe in the characters they were playing. Some of the dialogue isn't very well written in the first place. There's one line that Dexter Fletcher said that goes "Also, I think knives are a good idea... Knives are good, because they don't make any noise, and the less noise they make, the more likely we are to use them", and I thought to myself, Is this guy trying to sell me knives? Vinnie Jones was the only one who really impressed me. I wanted to see more of the guy. He played his part perfectly, nailed every scene he was in, and I loved that his character brought his son around for everything like it was "Bring Your Kid To Work Day". I also felt the narration by Alan Ford, you gotta love his accent, but I felt some of the stuff he narrated made it sound like he was talking down to me instead of telling me things I couldn't have figured out otherwise. It was condescending and intrusive, chiming in at all the wrong times. The only good writing is evident at the very end of the movie, the "cliffhanger" ending, which I thought was brilliantly scripted and played out. Another issue I have with the film is the dirty look it has. I know this is accounted for its low budget, but the amber lighting and the heavy grain, it's not a pretty mix, and it's one of the ugliest-looking films I've ever seen.
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Production Company
Summit Entertainment,
The Steve Tisch Company,
SKA Films,
HandMade Films,
Polygram Filmed Entertainment
Release Date Mar 5, 1999
Duration 1 h 47 m
Rating R
Tagline A Disgrace to Criminals Everywhere.
Awards
British Independent Film Awards
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
BAFTA Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
London Critics Circle Film Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
