Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

1998 Comedy

British writer Guy Ritchie made his feature directorial debut with this crime-caper comedy-drama set in London's East End and heavy on the Cockney dialogue (with one scene in subtitled Cockney rhyming slang). A big-bucks scheme goes awry: Cardsharp Eddy (Nick Moran) and pals Bacon (Jason Statham), Tom (Jason Flemyng), and Soap (Dexter Fletcher) scuffle to pile up enough money to put Eddy at the card table opposite gangland porn lord Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty). Unfortunately, the whole plan backfires, leaving Eddy owing Harry a huge sum, payable within the week. In truth, Harry hopes to acquire the bar run by his rival, J.D. (Sting), who is Eddy's father. To raise the cash, Eddy sets out to steal from a marijuana business run by Winston (Steven Mackintosh), but the inevitable gunplay doesn't make for an easy heist. World premiere at the 1998 Edinburgh Film Festival (Focus on British Cinema). more..

Director: Guy Ritchie

Starring: Jason Flemyng,Dexter Fletcher,Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh

 29 Reviews  13 Awards

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.

    Kenneth Turan - Los Angeles Times

    11 May 2013

  • A dynamite bundle from British writer-director Guy Ritchie. Even when the accents are as indecipherable as the plot, Ritchie keeps the action percolating and the humor on high.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    11 May 2013

  • 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.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    11 May 2013

  • If the dialect is hard to comprehend, that soon becomes part of the joke. It's unlikely that even the British audiences who made Lock, Stock a big hit got it all.

    Bob Graham - The San Francisco Chronicle

    11 May 2013

  • Plenty of fun, less for its many plot twists than for its large and varied assortment of vibrant characters.

    John Petrakis - The Chicago Tribune

    11 May 2013

Awards

  • BAFTA Awards (1999)

  • Best Comedy Film

    British Comedy Awards (1998)

  • For the Film Making the Most of Resources Within a Limited Budget

    British Independent Film Awards (1998)

  • Funniest Movie

    Csapnivalo Awards (2000)

  • Best Motion Picture

    Edgar Allan Poe Awards (2000)

Lists

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