Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels/Snatch [DVD]

A Guy Ritchie double. ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ was an internationally successful British film and won director Ritchie the Best Newcomer trophy at the 1998 Evening Standard Film awards. After losing all their money to London crime boss Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty) in a card game, twentysomething friends Eddy (Nick Moran), Tom (Jason Flemyng), Soap (Dexter Fletcher) and Bacon (Jason Statham) decide to steal from their drug-dealing neighbour, Dog. Using guns stolen from burglars in the employ of Harry, the quartet carry out their heist, leaving their money at Eddy’s. However, as they set about disposing of the evidence, they are unaware that the guns they have stolen are in fact even more valuable antiques! Footballer Vinnie Jones was also nominated for an Evening Standard Film Award for his turn as one of the hoods. Whilst in ‘Snatch’ Ritchie continues in mockney gangster vein. In London en route to deliver a stolen diamond to his employer Avi (Dennis Farina), thief Franky Four Fingers (Benicio Del Toro) is ambushed by Russian mobster Boris the Blade’s (Rade Sherbedgia). At the same time, boxing promoters Turkish and Tommy enter Irish gyspy fighter Mickey (Brad Pitt) in a fight run by local kingpin Brick Top (Alan Ford). Instead of throwing the fight as arranged, Mickey earns Brick Top’s enmity by beating his fighter fair and square. Meanwhile, Avi travels to London and hires Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) to track down Franky and the diamond – which Brick Top has now found out about and decided to appropriate from Boris!