Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels 

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Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh
Genre: Comedy

While the usual comparisons to "Trainspotting" are going to be extant, "Lock, Stock" actually owes a lot more to "The Usual Suspects" and Tarantino than the cockney accents might insinuate. And though it's fiercely violent and incredulously plot-thick, it's also a glorious ride through the sweet peccadillos of lower-class English criminals, as well as being absolutely hilarious.

Y'see, a group of four good-natured beer-swilling friends end up losing a card game to the tune of about a half-million pounds. The game was rigged, of course, by the man who wants to take over the local pub (owned by the card player's father) but there's also a crazy black druglord who obssesses over sports, about three separate groups of goons going after two antique guns, and a hit man with a young boy who ends up being the most honorable among them.

Yes, it's utterly confusing, and at times, you'll need to lean over to your date and ask who the hell the bald guy is. But stick with it, and you've got a plot woven tighter than the Bayeaux Tapestry, culminating in a fantastic ending that is totally unrealistic, but like any good roller coaster ride, you'll be having too much fun to care.

—Ian Williams

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