Rent Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Guy Ritchie
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh,Vinnie Jones, Sting
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
When four small-time criminals lose a rigged poker game against a London kingpin, he gives them one week to settle their enormous debt.
Verdict
A winding adventure through the London underground involving plenty of inept criminals that are all after money, drugs, and a pair of rifles. The problem is that all of them are after the same stash and fighting each other. The most valuable thing are the guns, but none of them realize it. Nearly all of these characters are unique or at least quirky, angling to get money through criminal means. Their escapades are both comedic and hapless.
Watch It.
Review
Friends Tom (Jason Flemyng), Soap (Dexter Fletcher), and Bacon (Jason Statham) look to stake their other friend Eddie (Nick Moran) in a high stakes poker game run by Harry. Eddie being a card shark, means easy money if they can get the buy in together. None of them realize that the game is rigged, and the only reason Harry lets Eddie in is so that he would lose and Harry could acquire Eddie's father's bar. Eddie should have known something was up when Harry offered to loan him money so he could continue betting, but by that point Eddie was too far in.
The four friends owe Harry a lot of money and have a week to pay it back. It's life and death as Harry has threatened them. They don't realize Harry's real play.
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| Stephen Marcus, Jason Flemyng, Nick Moran play Nick "the Greek," Tom, Eddie |
The four friends conveniently happen to overhear a neighbor planning to heist money and drugs. Tom, Soap, Bacon, and Eddie plan to rob the neighbors after they hit the stash house, selling the drugs to local kingpin Rory. They'll use the proceeds to pay off Harry.
The problem is that the neighbor is planning to rob Rory's stash house and the guns the four friends buy to aid in their robbery are two expensive muskets that Harry had two low level criminals steal. The low level guys didn't realize Harry wanted those specific muskets and fenced them. The fence also didn't realize their value and sold them to Tom.
What unfolds is a series of unfortunate events. None of these criminals are adept and all of the robberies encounter several hurdles. The stash house bag of cash is stolen several times with basically these criminals handing it off amongst themselves. The group of four have it, lose it, then get it back only to lose it again.
Dialog is sharp, seeming even wittier due to the English accents and slang. The movie is perpetuated by incompetent criminals and plenty of scheming. The four friends continue to get into and out of trouble throughout, always on the edge of being clear of trouble but never fully.
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