Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – 1998 | 106mins | Thriller, Black-Comedy | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Hailed as The Long Good Friday for the Trainspotting generation sets high expectations for this London based thriller, Eastenders Tom, Bacon and Soap all manage to find £100,000 so that their hot-shot poker playing mate Eddy can enter porn king Hatchet Harry’s high-stakes card game. But before you can say "pontoon", Eddy’s down half a million in a game that was set-up and given one week to pay up, or else debt collector Vinnie Jones will be round to collect Eddy’s fingers as interest. Desperate for some quick cash, the lads hit upon the idea of ripping off the thugs next door, who are themselves planning to turn over a bunch of toffs with a skunk farm in their flat and a stack of loot tying around. But needless to say, the path of the criminally incompetent doesn’t run smooth and soon Eddy and the gang find themselves being hunted down by three gangs at once. Sting as Eddy’s dad can cancel the debt by handing over his bar, lock, stock and barrel to his old adversary, Harry. First-time director Guy Ritchie has crafted a hilariously twisted, razor-sharp comedy gangster thriller that’s littered with as many corpses as choice oneliners and colourful characters. Violent, stylish and occasionally uproariously funny.