Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
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| Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | |
|---|---|
 IMDB Top 250: #220  8.0/10(50,206 votes) As of November 14, 2006 |
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| Directed by | Guy Ritchie |
| Produced by | Matthew Vaughn |
| Written by | Guy Ritchie |
| Starring | Jason Flemyng Dexter Fletcher Nick Moran Jason Statham Steven Mackintosh Vinnie Jones Sting |
| Music by | David A. Hughes John Murphy |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures PolyGram Pictures (UK) Gramercy Pictures (US) |
| Release date(s) | August 28, 1998 (UK) |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) is a British film directed and written by Guy Ritchie, and produced by Matthew Vaughn.
The story is a heist film involving a cocky young card shark who loses £500,000 to a powerful crimelord in a rigged game of three card brag. In order to pay off his debts, he and his friends decide to rob a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door, and whom they have overheard plotting to rob a drug dealer.
The film garnered Guy Ritchie international acclaim, and introduced actors Vinnie Jones, a former British football player, and Jason Statham, to worldwide audiences. On a less noticable entry into wide screen, young actor Frank Harper, whose career has since snowballed, made his debut as a minor cast role; as such, the film has been one of the fullist lists of new and aspiring actors of recent years.
The movie contains non-conventional cinematography with scenes often having shaky camera movement which adds to the dynamic nature of the film. The soundtrack of the movie is very vivid and well-synchronised with the action on the screen.
The film is a violent black comedy which boasts a rich cast of characters.
In 2000, Ritchie won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. In 2004 the magazine Total Film named Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the 38th greatest British film of all time.
A television series, Lock, Stock...The Series, followed in 2000.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
There are four criminal gangs involved in the plot. The first (in order of appearance) is not really a gang at the outset as it consists of four friends: Eddie, Tom, Soap and Bacon. The second is that of Harry 'Hatchet Harry' Lonsdale with Barry 'The Baptist', Harry's personal bodyguard and counsellor, Big Chris, Harry's debt-collector and Little Chris, son of Big Chris and collects along with him on jobs. The third is Rory Breaker's gang, consisting of numerous black heavies. Finally, the fourth is Dog's gang, consisting of some five men, one of whom, Plank, is key to the plot. Also involved is the fence, Nick the Greek, and Liverpudlian petty criminals, Gary and Dean.
At the start of the film Eddie and friends collect £25,000 each to help Eddie bet against Harry 'The Hatchet' Lonsdale, an infamous gangster and a card sharp. However, the game was fixed by Harry and Eddie ends up owing £500,000 to Harry. Barry threatens to cut off Eddie and his friends' fingers, one by one, for each day the debt goes unpaid. The friends are understandably distressed. Meanwhile, Harry's aim is to get hold of Eddie's father's bar. The story goes that Eddie's father, JD, was in a game of cards with Harry, who intentionally kept on playing to put JD further and futher into debt, thus putting him in trouble for "a very long time". It looked hopeless for JD (Harry had a hand of three Aces) when he showed his cards at the end, and he drew three 3s, the best possible hand. The shock of this occurance caused Harry to have a heart attack. However, JD refuses to give up his bar, ignoring the threat to his son (of note: the film is narrated by Alan Ford, who plays Alan, a bartender at JD's bar).
At the same time, Gary and Dean receive an offer from Barry (on Harry's request) to get him two extremely valuable antique shotguns. They steal the guns in question (and some others) from their current owner. However, during the break in, they are shot at by one of the occupants of the house, with the antique shotguns. This means that the shotguns were out of the gun cabinet and out of secrecy Barry had only specified that he wanted the guns from the cabinet. Gary and Dean give him the modern ones, while the antique ones are considered to be unwanted and sold to Nick the Greek.
Meanwhile, Dog, who lives next door to Eddie and who is the leader of an extremely violent but small time gang, plans to rob an illegal drug laboratory, run by four rather peaceful and unarmed 'botanicals'. Plank, a long-time client of the laboratory as well as a member of Dog's gang, provides the necessary information. Accidentally Eddie and his friends overhear Dog's plans through a wall. They decide to ambush Dog and his associates at his flat once they return from the job, and take all the stolen money and drugs. They contact Nick the Greek, offering to sell him the marijuana that they plan to obtain. Nick sells them the guns that they will need for the ambush which, of course, turn out to be the two antique shotguns in which Hatchet Harry was interested.
Harry discovers that the guns Barry brought him are the wrong ones. He urges Barry to get the right ones. Barry calls Gary and orders him to find the guns. Gary calls Nick the Greek, but Nick tells him that the guns are already sold and can't be returned. Gary and Dean, frightened of Barry, decide to retrieve the guns on their own.
Dog and his gang, as planned, carry out the raid at the laboratory. During the raid one of the botanicals is murdered, another gets his foot shot off, and one of the member's of Dog's gang is killed with his own weapon by the girlfriend of the marijuana growers, but everyone else involved survives. The raid is otherwise successful and the gang returns home with the money and drugs, only to find Eddie and his friends (all wearing masks) waiting for them. They take all the loot and leave. After dropping the goods off at Eddie's flat, the friends go out to celebrate.
Meanwhile, Dog is beside himself with fury. In anger he throws Plank against the wall; unexpectedly the wall breaks down, to reveal Eddie's apartment and numerous microphones that were used to overhear Dog's plans. Having recovered the money and most of the marijuana, Dog sets an ambush in Eddie's flat.
At the same time, Nick the Greek tries to sell the stolen marijuana to Rory Breaker. Unfortunately, the laboratory was actually Rory's, and when he realises that Nick is trying to sell him his own goods, he is less than pleased. Terrified, Nick gives away Eddie and his friends as the source of the drugs. Rory immediately gathers his gang and leaves for Eddie's place to punish the supposed robbers. They burst in only to encounter Dog's ambush. In the subsequent gunfight everyone, except for the 'botanicals' and Dog, is killed. Dog flees through a window, grabbing the two guns, only to run into Big Chris, whom Harry has sent to remind Eddie about the debt. Chris, who recognises the guns that Dog is holding as those his boss wanted, surprises him and takes the guns and the money to Harry.
Eddie and his friends arrive home to find a dozen dead bodies instead of the money. While they are in a state of shock, Harry, who has received the money and guns, calls Eddie and asks why he had the guns, and demands that he come and explain himself immediately. Eddie and his friends, realising that they are no longer in danger, obey. Meanwhile Gary and Dean have followed Chris with the guns. Not knowing that Chris actually works for the same boss as Barry, they decide to burst in and take the guns. Dean recognises Harry prior to being shot by him; Gary, seeing his friend's death, shoots Harry; Barry, sitting behind him, throws a hatchet into his back; turning around, Gary shoots Barry; having recognised each other they both utter the phrase 'What the fuck are you doing here?!' and both proceed to die. Eddie and friends arrive at Harry's place only to find yet more dead bodies. They take the money and leave; Tom delays, as he wants to recover the shotguns.
Meanwhile, Dog, having recovered, follows Chris and, threatening to kill his son (Little Chris), demands that Chris returns the money. Chris agrees and drives to Harry's, but there he runs his car into Eddie's car that is parked at the entrance. The crash stuns Dog and the three friends sitting in Eddie's car. Chris kills Dog in perhaps the most infamous and violent scene in the film. Chris repeatedly and brutally slams Dog's head in the car door, shouting and swearing numerous times. This scene is unique in the film in that a character dies not because of criminal activities, but because he threatens a father's son. This is reflected in the music and cinematography of the scene. It is also somewhat ironic due to Chris' outburst of swearing, as during course of the film, Big Chris had admonished everyone, including Little Chris, to watch their language (for example, when they are collecting a debt from a man in a tanning salon, at one point Little Chris exclaims "Fuckin' hell!" Big Chris admonishes him with the reply that if Little Chris uses language like that again, he'll wish he hadn't).
Chris then notices that one of the friends is holding a bag with the money which, as he knows, belongs to Harry; he takes it to Harry's apartment, where he encounters Tom who is holding the shotguns. Tom knows that the guns aren't loaded, so they both leave the apartment peacefully through different doors, Chris keeping the money and Tom keeping the guns.
The friends are of course arrested, but luckily cleared of all charges. The only evidence that could connect them to what has happened is the two antique shotguns. The friends, sitting in the bar and celebrating, are sure that the guns have been disposed of by Tom; however, Tom confesses that he kept them. The friends send Tom to throw them away in the river. Meanwhile, Chris comes to the bar and returns the bag; he mentions that he has taken some money for himself and his son, as with Harry's death he has lost his employer. Opening the bag, the friends see that it is empty, save for a parcel. Opening the parcel, they find an antique guns catalogue and learn that their shotguns are worth between a quarter of a million pounds and three hundred thousand pounds a piece. They rush to call Tom. The final scene of the film ends up as a cliffhanger of Tom on the bridge, contemplating whether to answer the call or to throw the guns in the river first.
[edit] Trivia
- The body count of the movie is 17 (18 if you count the flashback with Smithy Robinson).
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- Harry Londsdale - shot several times by Gary
- Barry - shot in the stomach by Gary
- Dog - crushed by a car-door by Big Chris
- Plank - shot several times, until finally killed by Rory Breaker
- Mickey - shot by Gloria
- Willie - shot by Mickey
- Paul - killed in the shootout at Eddie and Bacon's place
- John - killed in the shootout at Eddie and Bacon's place
- Rory Breaker - shot by Plank
- Dean - shot in the chest by Harry
- Gary - killed with an axe to the back by Barry
- Gordon - killed with a Chef's knife sharpening steel by Dog
- Gordon's unnamed associate - beaten to death with a golf club
- Rory Breaker's 4 henchmen - killed in the shootout at Eddie and Bacon's place
- Smithy Robinson - bludgeoned to death with "a 15-inch black rubber cock" by Harry
- Due to the fact that Danny John-Jules had a brief role in the movie as Jack, some fans associated the role of Dean with Craig Charles, John-Jules's costar on Red Dwarf. The role was actually portrayed by Jake Abraham, who resembles and sounds like Charles in many ways and appeared briefly as an alternative version of his character in Red Dwarf.
- The scene where Chris repeatedly slammed Dog's head in the car door was repeated in the movie Snatch when the character 'Bullet-Tooth' Tony, also played by Vinnie Jones, is smashing an unknown person's head in a car door as his car phone is ringing. When he picks up the phone after smashing the victim's head, he politely answers, "Bonjour". The character calling him is Dennis Farina's character Cousin Avi, who is calling Tony for help finding the stolen 86-carat diamond. This method of dispatching an enemy may have been mimicked from a scene in the 1982 film Raging Bull.
- The role of JD, Eddie's father, is played by the English rocker Sting.
- The role of Barry The Baptist was played by legendary hardman Lenny McLean, also known as "The Guv'nor" after becoming the country's top bare-knuckle fighter. McLean became ill during filming, but believed he was only suffering from a lingering case of the flu. McLean died of brain and lung cancer on July 28, 1998, just before the movie was released. Producers quickly changed billboards and posters to feature Lenny McLean as a tribute, even though Barry was only a supporting character.
- The line "I don't believe this, will everyone stop gettin' shot" was sampled in the music video for the 2000 garage hit "Bound for da Reload" by Oxide & Neutrino.
- The auction catalogue in which one of the friend is read is by an auctioneer called Botherby's a name play of Sotheby's
- the Bollywood movie Phir Hera Pheri borrows heavily from Lock, Stock... including most of the plotline, several plot devices and even directly translated dialogue from English to Hindi.
- Ross Boatman turned down a starring role in the film, as he did not wish to be typecast following his appearance in Hard Men.
- When Big Chris is slamming the car door on Dog's head, he is saying: "Never, ever in my life, has anyone been as fucking rude to me as you Dog! Fucking bastard!"
- The few seconds before Dean and Harry raise their guns at one another, and the music played therein, is a reference to Sergio Leone’s 1965 western For A Few Dollars More.
- The plot has many similarities to the real-life Wonderland Murders in Los Angeles in 1981, as the main plot involves an inside job to rob a major drug dealer of his drugs and cash, and the retribution that follows. A dispute over antique guns was also a factor in the murders.
- A number of classic British cars appear in the film. A Mini, driven by J.D, a Ford Granada estate car driven by the gang on their return to Hatchett Harry's place. Vinnie Jones drives a Rover 3.5 litre, and later an AC Cobra. Also featured are the ubiquitous Ford Transit van and Escort RS2000 driven by Dean and Gary.
[edit] See also
- Snatch
- Borough market
- Ali Catterall and Simon Wells, Your Face Here: British Cult Movies Since The Sixties (Fourth Estate, 2001) ISBN: 0007145543
[edit] External links
- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels at the Internet Movie Database
- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels at All Movie Guide
| Films Directed by Guy Ritchie |
| The Hard Case | Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Snatch | Swept Away | Revolver |
