Lock, stock and two smoking barrels (5 Stars)

Four friends. Three of them earn their money from dodgy businesses, like selling stolen goods. One is honest, and proud of it. One of them, Eddy, is a card shark. His strength isn't actually in playing cards, it's in being able to read his opponents. His game of choice is three-card brag, which is supposedly a variant of poker.

The four friends want to make money, so they each give Eddy £25,000 to play with. He goes to an exclusive card game hosted by Harry the Hatchet, and he can't possibly lose. Or at least, he couldn't possibly lose if the game weren't rigged. With the help of a hidden camera and electronic signals, Harry knows exactly what cards Eddy is holding. At the end of the evening Eddy is £500,000 in debt. The money has to be paid within a week, and Harry's henchman Barry the Baptist threatens to remove a finger from each of the four friends for every day the payment is late. After 10 days and no fingers left, well, use your imagination.

What results is a complex circular action romp, in which everyone has multiple connections with everyone else. Eddy overhears his next door neighbours planning to rob a cannabis farm, so he decides to rob the robbers after their robbery. The money they steal is more than enough to pay the debt, but they also have sacks of cannabis on their hands. They offer it for sale to a drug baron, not realising that he's the owner of the cannabis farm that was robbed. Chaos ensues.

There are many other details to the plot. You need a scorecard to keep track of who knows who and, more importantly, who did what to whom. The first time you watch the film you'll be confused, so you'll need to watch it at least three times to pick up all the details. It's worth it.

As for the two smoking barrels, there are two antique shotguns in the mix. You'll have to watch the film for yourself to see where they fit into the plot.

And the machete? Ditto.

And the girl with the machine gun? Ditto again.

This is one of my favourite ever films. It's a better film than "The Gentlemen". The brown tones that are used for most of the film – see the screenshots – make the action all the more vivid. Watching "The Gentlemen" this week inspired me to watch Guy Ritchie's first two films again. It's been too long.

Success Rate:  + 18.8

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