Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a British comedy crime film first released in 1998. It was written and directed by Guy Ritchie. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a heist film about a young guy who loses £500 000 to a crime lord in a rigged game of three card brag. To pay off his debts, he and his friends decide to rob the gang that operates out of the next-door flat.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels brought Guy Ritchie international acclaim and brought him to the forefront of acclaimed directors. The film was enormously successful. Made with a budget of US $1.35 million, it raked in a box office gross of US $28.3 million.
The Plot Line
Small-time criminal Eddy buys into one of ‘Hatchet’ Harry Lonsdale’s three card brag games but the game is rigged and he ends up losing. Eddy has to re-pay Harry, who does not expect Eddy and his friends, Tom, Soap, and Bacon, to come up with the online slots Pakistan.
In order to get the cash together, Eddy and his friends prepare to rob their neighbours, a small gang of thieves led by a man called Dog, who are planning a heist on a group of cannabis growers. This decision sends them on a whirlwind adventure of gambling, drugs, guns, robbery, and mystery murders, ending with a massive cliff hanger that leaves audiences uncertain of what will happen.
The Cast and Crew Credits
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels stars Nick Moran as Eddy, Jason Flemyng as Tom, Dexter Fletcher as Soap, and Jason Statham as Bacon.
This was Jason Statham’s first major film role, which launched him into a successful career. He has since moved on to star in numerous Hollywood blockbusters, including Snatch in 2000, The Italian Job in 2003, Revolver in 2005, and The Expendables series from 2010 to 2014.
The film was the first major feature film directed by Guy Ritchie. The success of this feature led him to direct numerous other successful films, including Snatch in 2000, Sherlock Holmes in 2009 and the sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, in 2011. The two Sherlock Holmes films were major box office successes and received positive reviews.
Release and Reception
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was first released on the 28th of August 1998 in the United Kingdom, and on the fifth of March 1999 in the United States.
The film was released to enormous critical praise, and was nominated for British Film of the Year at the 1998 British Academy Film Awards. In 2000, director Guy Ritchie won the Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay from the Mystery Writers of America. In 2004, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was named the 28th greatest British film of all time by Total Film.
A director’s cut version of the film was released in 2006, entitled the Locked n’ Loaded Director’s Cut. This version of the film runs for one hundred and twenty minutes and contains more information on the characters’ different backstories.