A Must-See Film – Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

I was going through my collection of dvds yesterday and stumbled across an old favorite of mine, if you happen to not have seen this film, I would highly recommend it.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels can be put simply into one word: a masterpiece. Only those who don’t have any sense of humor left will be left looking for the remote. There are numerous scenes within this film to tickle the funny bone, but the ones who also seek action will not be disappointed. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels starts with a poker game to trigger the plot.

Just like in the case of the film Maverick, we can pose the same question: ’Is Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels a poker film at all?’ No, not really, but poker does play an important role in the film, as for without the poker game, the main actors wouldn’t have faced the situations they got involved in.

The film is about four friends getting a big opportunity: Eddie (Nick Moran) plays the role of a poker guru having the abilities to beat anyone. All the members of the crew decide to give Eddie 25,000 pounds to test his skills, but instead of winning a handsome return, Eddie finds himself down by half a million pounds agains the rogue Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty). This situation leads the group of friends into a sticky situation.

Eddie and his friends are given a time limit of one week to cough up the cash and  in their last ditch effort to repay it, they come up with a rather unusual solution: they rob aother crew, which happens to have its headquarters next door.Following this, we can witness huge countdowns, in which everyone is mistaken for the other and leads to some hilarious outcomes to keep us entertained. The film has won 12 different awards so far and is currently placed 215th on IMDB’s top 250. Of course it is a must-see film, even if you’re not into poker at all!

Fun Facts: 

• The game played in the opening scene is ot Texas Hold’em and not even draw poker, but ’three card brag’, which is most popular in England, Nepal and India.
• You can read more about this game here.
• This is the film that put Vinnie Jones (Big Chris) into the spotlight as an actor. Vinnie began his career as a soccer player and drew attention to himself from his violence even in those times. One time, Vinnie managed to collect a yellow card only five seconds into the game by grabing his opponent’s balls.
• In total, 17 people get killed throughout the film.
• Double take: the scene where Chris smashes his opponent’s head with a car door has already been repeated in the smash hit Snatch and Vinnie Jones plays the role  of the violent guy in this film too.
• There are numerous amounts of classic British cars throughout the film, including a Mini, Ford Granada, a Ford Escort RS2000 and a Rover P5B. Vinnie Jones drives a 3.5 liter Rover P6 at the beginning of the film and an AC Cobra later on.

Best quotes:

-    Eddie: They are armed.
-    Soap: Armed? What do you mean armed? Armed with what?
-    Eddie: Err, bad breath, colorful language, feather duster... what do you think they're gonna be armed with? Guns, you tit!
 

-    Hatchet Harry: You must be Eddie, J.D.’s son.
-    Eddie: Yeah, You must be Harry. Sorry, didn't know your father.
-    Hatchet Harry: Never mind son, you just might meet him if you carry on like that.

Film details:

Title: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) [HandMade Films]
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Leading actors: Vinnie Jones (Big Chris), Nick Moran (Eddie)
Length: 107 minutes
IMDB Rating: 8.0