Customer Rating:
Summary: One of Nolte’s Best
Comment: This flick is really one of his best. Most of the other actors are virtually unknown in the U.S., which is too bad because they really do a great job. Ralph Finnes has a tiny, but intense part in this that helps make it a really tense and sexy heist movie. It’s kind of in the same vein as Ronin. It’s also a lot of fun.

Carlo, released in 2002, is a movie that is perhaps of special

interest to criminologists, as it covers a number of aspects that

are widely reported in the media, as scourges of society. It also

associates the weaknesses of the film’s protagonists to the profit,

glamor, class and prestige of a casino, thus making viewers reflect

on how there’s always someone, somewhere, raking it in from another

human’s failings – not exactly a brother’s keeper, is it?

Here, there’s tales of heroin abuse in the character played

tastefully by Nutsa Kukhianidze, whose youth and innocence in this

picture are a true complement to Nolte’s older “tortured mind and

soul” presence; in this manner, there’s a chemistry between the pair

that is charismatic. Also, the movie has a small part for a role of

a transgendered weight lifter, perhaps to throw a curve ball to the

audience. There’s also prominence given to gambling addiction, as

one would expect, from the plot, involving a casino for which Monte

Carlo is well known. There’s the traffic of high value paintings, in

this case, Picasso and otherwise, and a mastermind plan from Nolte’s

character to take possession of millions.

The filming spot adds value to the story, as the camera shows the

coutryside and also “in loco” filming in the city itself,

underlining its many glamourous and luxurious aspects, as its more

common aspects. The casino sequences, I find were done even better

than in 007′s Casino Royale. The action is never slow …time moves

rapidly over 90 mins, and the suspense is always present. Overall,

the GOOD THIEF’s special effects, music, and more is well delivered,

and the story entertaining.

I wouldn’t suggest this movie is intended for the patrons of Monte

Carlo, obviousl. I don’t know exactly why the “Algerian” aspect is

combined into it, unless, the story writer felt first generation

newcomers from the Magreb deserved being associated with some of

what goes on in the movie, perhaps. A fun movie, and the law

enforcement is always present, throughout, to remind viewers

of the consequences.

The box says Bob is quick-witted with a snazzy quote for any occasion. There is nothing to support this in the movie. We were promised a good, clever heist movie. We didn’t get it. The director spent more time showing the underworld scenery than the heist planning. Also, the computer camera transmitter used to case the joint would not have been able to penetrate the armored vault door, nor the thick stone walls. And another major plot point about spiders could have been resolved so easily that I found it actually offensive that they wasted time with it (how about wearing gloves, idiot).

It is sad that Nick Nolte has been reduced to this. Good actor in a bad, wannabe artsy flick. Horrid music choices acompany pointless transitional shots and effects. Frequently the dialog was so muttered and slurred that we had to replay the scene several times to find out what was said.

The movie seemed to constantly be losing track of what it was trying to accomplish and who the main character was. In the end, we’re left with a mess.

The only good thing I can say is that Nolte’s character is the rare male who won’t stand for hitting a woman under any circumstances. That’s the only “good” thing about him.

To compare this movie to Oceans 11 or The Thomas Crown Affair (even the remakes) or Casino is insulting to far superior works. Even double-or-nothing, this movie is not worth the gamble.

Written and directed by talented newcomer Guy Ritchie, this is one of those movies that was destined to become an instant cult classic � la Reservoir Dogs. Although some comparisons were drawn between Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, it would be unfair to discount the brilliant wit of the story and the innovative camerawork that the director brings to his debut feature. Not since The Krays has there been such an accurate depiction of the East End and its more colorful characters. Indicative of the social stratosphere in London, Ritchie’s movie is a hilarious and at times touching account of friendships and loyalty. The director and his mates (who make up most of the cast) clearly are enjoying themselves here. This comes across in some shining performances, in particular from ex-footballer Vinnie Jones (Big Chris) and an over-the-top Vas Blackwood (as Rory Breaker), who very nearly steals the show. Full of quirky vernacular and clever tension-packed action sequences, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a triumph–a perfect blend of intelligence, humor, and suspense. –Jeremy Storey

Customer Rating:
Summary: Madcap British crime caper
Comment: Director Guy Ritchie expertly concocted an amusing crime thriller replete with crosses and double crosses among various criminal groups in London’s underworld. The plot surrounds a group of 4 low level criminals played by Jason Statham, Nick Moran, Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher who pool their resources to sit in at a high stakes card game with a 100,000 pound admission. Nick Moran playing Eddie is a card shark but the game run by porn king Harry “Hatchet” Lonsdale played by P.J. Moriarty is fixed. He loses the 100,000 and an aditional 500,000 which must be paid within a week or else.

The band of 4 friends contrive to recoup the stolen funds by ripping off a marijuana growing cartel that conveniently live next door. That group had already been targeted by other group of robbers and things as a result get predictably muddled.

Meanwhile The “Hatchet” has commissioned the theft of a pair of antique shotguns worth a small fortune that bizarrely wind up in the hands of Moran and his friends. The various groups begin exchanging both the money and the shotguns among them leaving behind a trail of bloodied corpses in this farcical romp.

Ritchie concludes this well contrived comedic thriller, which includes a plethora of tough looking British thugs, with a touch of irony that effectively caps this winning film.

It has a pulp fiction vibe, following a group of wheelers and dealers (hustlers) who get into a sticky situation with an East End gangster.

Original plot, clever dialogue and great cinematography. I’m sure Americans will struggle with the dialogue but give it a try!

There is the similarity that characters unaware of each other’s presence are ultimately all connected by the closing credits in both Pulp Fiction (1994) and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. There is a lot of shooting. But otherwise, there were not a lot of plot similarities. And Pulp Fiction is much more of a violence R-rated film than the mainly language R-rating slapped on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

So, I’m glad that my friend recommended Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to me, but I’d mostly disagree about his summation of the film. This movie absolutely stands on it’s own as a good, suspenseful action flick with some terrific twists. It’s funny when it wants to be. It’s serious. It’s thrilling…a thoroughly enjoyable movie from the late 90s.

I don’t know why I’d never taken the time before yesterday to watch Director Guy Ritchie’s story of 4 guys that get themselves in deep with a local kingpin. But I can tell you that Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was sure good enough to have me add Ritchie’s 2000 follow-on Snatch (aka Lock, Stock and Six Stolen Diamonds) to my Ready-to-View queue; I understand that several of the actors are back, but all playing unrelated characters along side Brad Pitt. But that’s another review entirely.

Check out Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

The story, set in London’s seedy East End, involves four friends named Eddie (Moran), Bacon (Statham), Tom (Flemyng), and Soap (Fletcher) who find themselves in deep with a local criminal boss after Eddie loses big during a poker game. Here’s the deal…a scary fellow named ‘Hatchet’ Harry Lonsdale (Moriarty), who operates an adult novelty shop as a front, has a running card game, one in which the buy in is 100 thousand pounds. Seems Eddie’s specialty is not so much in cards, but the ability to read his opponents, so Eddie and his friends come up with the dough in the hopes of turning around a quick profit. Thing is, Harry cheats, so subsequently Eddie loses, and loses big, to the point where he’s a half million in the hole to Harry. Harry knows Eddie’s buy in money came from a collective pool, so he now holds them all responsible for the debt, and has given them approximately a week to pony up, or else he’ll have his collector, a seriously scary individual named Big Chris (Jones), come around to start removing body parts. The situation seems bleak but hope does arrive in the form of a plan, one in which involves Eddie and his friends putting it to Eddie’s neighbor, a man named Dog (Harper), who, along with his crew, are planning to rip off a group of local weed dealers. As the various plans come together (along with various comical complications tied to each), Eddie and crew successfully heist Dog’s score, but even more complications arise as various players get involved, resulting in an extraordinary amount twists and turns, so much so you just may need a scorecard to keep track of all the action…

One should know I barely scratched the surface of the story above, as there’s a great many interesting characters running about this film, along with a large number of varied plot elements which don’t seem all that related at first, but eventually do tie together well as the film careens towards its conclusion. The story is very complicated, but I think Ritchie does an excellent job in keeping things orderly and moving along at a solid pace. Ritchie uses a decent amount of techniques to forward the story, including voice overs, slow motion, still frames, flashbacks, odd shooting angles, etc., all of which are utilized in such a way to enhance the story. All the performances are solid, bolstered by a lot of great dialog awash with cockney slang. At first some of the language may seem odd, but after awhile the viewer doesn’t notice it as much as they’re engrossed in the activity on the screen and certain things not understood through dialog alone become apparent from the inflection of speech and the action of the characters. The first quarter or so of the film sets up most of the characters, while the second quarter presents the dilemma, and then the rest involves Eddie and friends trying to extricate themselves from a very deep hole. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a large number of characters introduced throughout, but know each has a specific role in the overall scheme of things, and is presented with the appropriate amount of screen time in terms of their importance to the story. Given this was Ritchie’s first film, I was amazed at how well he managed to present as much as he did with the ease in which he did it, as everything clicked her for me. I should also mention the eclectic choice of tunes used throughout worked very well, as there’s songs by The Stooges, James Brown, Dusty Springfield, Robbie Williams, The Stone Roses, among others. My favorite character in the film was Big Chris, a no nonsense enforcer/collector played by Vinnie Jones (he was `Big’ Chris, as his young son, who could often be found at his side, was `Little’ Chris). There’s a great scene near the end where Big Chris deals with a threat to his son by utilizing a car door on the head on the one who made the threat. There is a copious amount of violence throughout this comical crime caper, but most of it, in terms of the actual visceral displays, isn’t shown. An example of this is you’ll see someone shooting a gun at someone else, but you don’t necessarily see the person being shot at during impact. The trick here is what you don’t see you fill in with your mind, given the detailed events just prior, so there’s a perception of violence, rather than the actual depiction, which can be just as effective. All in all this is a highly entertaining film, capped off by a great ending. If you’ve seen this film and are interested in others like it, I’d highly recommend Ritchie’s next film entitled Snatch (2000), as they’re very similar, the main difference being the latter has a larger budget and features a slew of recognizable faces such as Brad Pitt (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Dennis Farina (“Law & Order”), and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), along with a number of performers from this film.

The DVD I own is the initial release, and not the `Lock N’ Loaded’ director’s cut which was released later. In terms of the version I own, the picture, available in both widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1) and fullscreen format (1.33:1), looks clean, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio comes across very well. In terms of extras there are production notes, cast and crew biographies, a production featurette, trailers for both the U.S. and U.K. release, an informative cockney rhyming slang dictionary, and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

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