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Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels (1999) Starring: Jason Statham, Nick Moran, Dexter Fletcher, Jason Flemyng, Vinnie Jones Director: Guy Ritchie Rating: R Category: Thriller

Director Guy Ritchie has yet to shake the comparisons to cult phenom Quentin Tarantino and has been considered on many occasions as his U.K. counterpart, but is that really a bad thing? Tarantino has been influencing young directors for nearly a decade since the release of his tour de force "Pulp Fiction." His debut feature "Reservoir Dogs" was an even bigger inspiration for independent filmmakers when it hit Sundance in '92, and undeniably so to Ritchie's own debut film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." The film reflects the same kind of material that you'd find in Tarantino's resume, including smart dialogue, aggressive editing, as well as a unique blend of violence and humor. It's no surprise then that "Lock, Stock" is one of the best crime capers in the history of film.

And with every crime caper comes the necessary killer plot, which "Lock, Stock" has more than enough of. The main story revolves around four best pals Eddy (Nick Moran), Bacon (Jason Statham), Tom (Jason Flemyng) and Soap (Dexter Fletcher), who pool together 100,000 pounds for an once-in-a-lifetime card game at the table of the city's notorious porn king, Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty). Eddy is the resident card pro of the bunch, but when he becomes the victim of a cheating card shark, the group find themselves 400,000 in debt and in danger of much worse. In order to repay Harry before the seven-day extension expires, the gang forms a plan to swindle a bunch of marijuana and cash from their criminal neighbors that they just stole from a group of pot dealers. Factor in a duo of unlikely thieves, Hatchet Harry's right-hand man, a gang of black badasses, and a mercenary-for-hire (Vinnie Jones), and you have one of the funniest character casts in ages.

It's true that Ritchie has pinched a good number of cinematic styles from Tarantino, but unlike Tarantino's customary nonlinear narrative, Ritchie presents his clever tale with "Seinfeld"-esque coincidences that haphazardly bring all of his characters together in the end. Better examples of this method can be found in Ritchie's sophomore project "Snatch," but it still works comedic wonders in "Lock, Stock" as well. And while the acting really isn't top notch (Ritchie prefers real criminals playing actors, instead of the other way around), there are breakout performances by Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones, who are both currently climbing the Hollywood ladder as we speak.

The film also serves as the perfect introductory bridge to British cinema, because even though the script's dialogue is deeply rooted in cockney slang, the humor is still very relevant to American audiences. "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" was one of the last great films of the late 90's, but it also wasn't widely recognized as a brilliant genre flick until after Ritchie crossed the pond with "Snatch" - much like how "Reservoir Dogs" was to "Pulp Fiction." And even though these bigger films have garnered a lot more attention over the past decade, both debuts are arguably better than their successors.

Locked 'N Loaded Edition DVD Review:
The fine folks over at Universal have apparently decided that a re-release of the Guy Ritchie cult classic is in high demand, and while an unrated director’s cut of just about any film is always a welcome surprise, the rest of the extras hardly warrant a double dip. In fact, aside from the additional twelve minutes of minutes, the only other special features included is a short cinematography featurette (“One Smoking Camera”) that breaks down a handful of scenes, and a two-minute expletive reel (“Lock, Stock and Two F**king Barrels”). This is, of course, in place of the US and UK trailers, cast/crew biographies, a production featurette and hilarious cockney dictionary that was included on the first DVD release. Why couldn’t they include said featurette on this new single-disc release, let alone track down some of the cast/crew for a couple audio commentaries is beyond me. Was Guy Ritchie was too busy babysitting?