Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Clever is all well and good, but it is, in fact, possible to be too clever, and this British import--a runaway hit in its native country--is a textbook example of what happens when an artist becomes too enamored of his own ingenuity. Working with a large cast of virtual unknowns (at least in the U.S.--one character is played by soccer star Vinnie Jones, who's apparently a household name in Britain), writer/director Guy Ritchie sets in motion no fewer than four concurrent heist-related narratives, all of which in some way or another lead back to a couple of antique rifles (the "two smoking barrels" of the title, which is itself too clever by half). Basically, everybody in the movie is dead-set on ripping off somebody else, who in turn is planning a caper that'll divert so-and-so's riches into their own hands, etc.; trouble is, the plot is so mind-bogglingly complicated that the first hour or so of the movie is just one long, rather uninvolving setup for a preposterously twist-laden third act. Once the narrative dominoes finally commence a'fallin', Lock, Stock is actually quite a lot of fun, if emotionally weightless; getting there, unfortunately, is considerably less than half the fun. Optional. (M. D'Angelo)[DVD Review—Oct. 3, 2006—Focus, 120 min., not rated, $19.98—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Locked ‘N Loaded Director's Cut) sports a fine transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Aside from the negligible 12 minutes of added footage, DVD extras include a “One Smoking Camera” cinematography featurette (11 min.), a two-minute “Lock, Stock and Two F**king Barrels” montage of the film's expletives, and trailers—but drops the other extras from the original DVD release. Bottom line: if you already own the first release—now out of print—you can pass on this over-busy gangster flick, which has admittedly achieved something of cult status.][Blu-ray Review—Nov. 24, 2009—Universal, 108 min., R, $26.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels sports a good transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to those on the standard DVD release, including a “One Smoking Camera” cinematography featurette (11 min.), a “Lock, Stock and Two F**king Barrels” montage of the film's expletives (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: Ritchie's minor cult classic first film makes a solid debut on Blu-ray.]