LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS

Written and directed by Guy Ritchie, each sepia-tinted frame of this film is alive with blunt humour. After being cheated out of a large sum of money at a rigged card game, four friends are forced to find a way to repay the loan of a volatile gang leader. Their plan leads them to clash against debt collectors, thieves, rival gangs and weed growers, in an evermore confusing muddle of conflicting objectives, but drawing neatly to a surprisingly simple close.

The script is lively and truthful, each character compelling and well-developed, such as the briliantly well-drawn public school boys growing weed, naively ironing the fortune they have amassed note by note. There is real chemistry between the four friends, played by Dexter Fletcher, Jason Flemyng, Nick Moran and Jason Statham. Fletcher in particular captures the rough and cheeky charm that makes the movie so appealing, and Vinnie Jones puts in a forceful performance as the murderous debt collector with a soft side.

Ritchie unapologetically juxtaposes the cheeky banter of the London underworld with its shocking violence, and the outcome is humorous, well-crafted, and very clever.