Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels

Four Eastenders decide to make it big in a high stakes poker game but end up very quickly owing big money to some nasty characters.

The boys decide to indulge in a bit more villainy to try to keep their health, but they're not too good at the bad stuff. Nethertheless a Shakespearian body count mounts in some of the funniest shootouts since Tarantino's True Romance.

There are about three heists going on at once, depending how you count them, and a father's bar is up for grabs, Lock Stock and Barrels. As for the smoking barrels, well two of the weapons used are antique.

First time writer director Guy Ritchie has popped up with a slippery, garish black comedy with far more than its fair share of entertainment. Employing some non actors, including a rough edged sportsman (hard playing soccer star Vinnie Jones as Big Chris) and real life crooks (including Lenny McLean as Barry The Baptist) has helped to get that authentic edge no doubt, but a deep understanding of the genre was the real key. Ritchie patently knows how comedy gangster blood baths work.

Sting is his usual credible self on screen as JD, Eddie's Dad and Lenny McLean sure knows how real life thugs operate. For a start, it appears that they only say what's necessary. Vinnie Jones as JD is big, quietly spoken, knows the rules of thuggery and is frighteningly ominous.

It seems that sportsmen are basically entertainers at the highest level. Another top line soccer star, Eric Cantona, was equally impressive recently in Elizabeth, another top notch English film. The same sorts of influences can probably be said for crooks, who must learn early to hide what they are really thinking - great training for the film stage.

Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels is refreshing and smart and is a fine independent film. There's nothing really new here, the genre is well established, but the game is played very well indeed. Black humour lovers will find plenty to guffaw at here.