A Fistful of Reviews - Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Rated: R
Runtime: 1 Hour and 45 Minutes

Reviewer: Erik
Grade: A

I rented "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" because of several reviews which seemed to indicate that this was a Tarantino-meets-the-Marx-Brothers style of movie. And in some ways it is. But it's more than that, and it's a lot of fun along the way, which is more than I can say for a lot of movies I've seen recently.

"Lock, Stock..." tells the story of four shady friends (with the exception of the straight-laced cook) who get in trouble when one of them ends up owing 500,000 pounds to a porn king in a poker game. He can pay back the man back in a week or him and his friends start losing fingers. As the four search for a way, one overhears a conversation through thin walls of a robbery his neighbors will soon pull off. They're going to rob a local drug dealer of all his cash and drugs. So the four decide to rob the robbers upon returning from their heist.

That's all I can say about the plot, because there are a lot of twists and turns. Through the course of the story, we get to meet henchmen, enforcers, the kingpin who's going to sell the stolen drugs, two losers hired to steal antique muskets, the vengeance-seeking neighbors and a low-level mobster who doesn't have a clue about what goes on around him.
Misunderstandings abound as well, resulting in some shootings and some surprises for the four main characters.

The storyline is great, especially for those (like myself) who have a thing for crime dramas.
But there's a lot of razzle-dazzle here as well. Funny subtitles, odd-camera shots (including a shot looking up from inside a pot as carrots are dropped into the boiling water), use of sped-up and slowed-down footage and distorted lenses all help contribute to the overall effect of this movie. If the plot is fun, the camerawork is every bit as fun.

Countless rented movies go in and out of my VCR and most end up in my mental "renter" pile. Here's a movie that isn't Academy Award material, yet has a solid storyline, a lot of flash and enough twists and turns to keep you entertained. It's one of those movies where I had a big, goofy grin on my face at the end.

And "It's been emotional" is a potentially-classic line. Keep your ears open for it.

	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
	Rated: R Runtime: 1 Hour and 45 Minutes Reviewer: Erik Grade: A I rented "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" because of several reviews which seemed to indicate that this was a Tarantino-meets-the-Marx-Brothers style of movie. And in some ways it is. But it's more than that, and it's a lot of fun along the way, which is more than I can say for a lot of movies I've seen recently. "Lock, Stock..." tells the story of four shady friends (with the exception of the straight-laced cook) who get in trouble when one of them ends up owing 500,000 pounds to a porn king in a poker game. He can pay back the man back in a week or him and his friends start losing fingers. As the four search for a way, one overhears a conversation through thin walls of a robbery his neighbors will soon pull off. They're going to rob a local drug dealer of all his cash and drugs. So the four decide to rob the robbers upon returning from their heist. That's all I can say about the plot, because there are a lot of twists and turns. Through the course of the story, we get to meet henchmen, enforcers, the kingpin who's going to sell the stolen drugs, two losers hired to steal antique muskets, the vengeance-seeking neighbors and a low-level mobster who doesn't have a clue about what goes on around him. Misunderstandings abound as well, resulting in some shootings and some surprises for the four main characters. The storyline is great, especially for those (like myself) who have a thing for crime dramas. But there's a lot of razzle-dazzle here as well. Funny subtitles, odd-camera shots (including a shot looking up from inside a pot as carrots are dropped into the boiling water), use of sped-up and slowed-down footage and distorted lenses all help contribute to the overall effect of this movie. If the plot is fun, the camerawork is every bit as fun. Countless rented movies go in and out of my VCR and most end up in my mental "renter" pile. Here's a movie that isn't Academy Award material, yet has a solid storyline, a lot of flash and enough twists and turns to keep you entertained. It's one of those movies where I had a big, goofy grin on my face at the end. And "It's been emotional" is a potentially-classic line. Keep your ears open for it.