History Film / LockStockandTwoSmokingBarrels

''Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 British crime caper and black comedy written and directed by Creator/GuyRitchie, in his feature film debut.

!!This film provides examples of;

"There is one more thing. ''[beat]'' It's been emotional."

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lock_stock_01_8456.jpg]]

A 1998 British crime caper and black comedy written and directed by Creator/GuyRitchie. The plot concerns four bottom-rung English grifters who hatch a plan for a big payday that inadvertently sets off a GambitPileup involving two antique shotguns, a bagload of banknotes, a huge marijuana stash, and virtually every criminal gang in London's East End.

Produced on a shoestring, the film was a huge success and launched the cinema careers of Ritchie as well as producer Creator/MatthewVaughn and costars Creator/JasonStatham and Creator/VinnieJones.

* FixingTheGame: Harry's poker game is rigged so he can cheat Ed out of not only his money, but his dad's bar. The Director's Cut reveals that Harry cheated at cards in a game with Ed's dad, but J.D. managed to beat him and Harry wants revenge.

** Hatchet Harry not only cheats at poker, but he would rather steal a pair of antique shotguns that hand over money at an auction. Not only does his greed drive the plot, it gets quite a few people killed.

* CoolGuns:
** The Holland & Holland shotguns, hands down.
** Mick carries a Bren Gun on the raid of the drug den. Turns out to not only be AwesomeButImpractical (and this is lampshaded) but its user gets HoistByHisOwnPetard when he leaves it unattended.
** Rory Breaker wields a pair of Walther [=PPK=]s.

* TheAlcoholic: Gary the Scouser, according to his friend Dean. When Dean is in a phone booth after robbing a stately house for Harry, he tries calling to his friend, only to find he's walked off to [[INeedAFreakingDrink get a pint]] after a CloseCallHaircut. Dean promptly calls him a "foockin' soddin' shandy-drinkin' BASTARD!"
** He could also be calling Barry this, however...

* AcceptableTargets: In-universe. Presented with the chance to beat up a traffic warden consequence-free, ''everybody'' takes it.

** Played straight with the air rifle the weed growers attempt to use on Dog and his gang to [[MinorInjuryOverreaction little but hilarious effect]].

* AwesomeButImpractical: A World War II-era Bren gun is an absolutely '''bonkers''' choice of weapon to take to a robbery - it's intimidating for sure but also heavy, cumbersome in confined spaces, almost impossible to conceal, and you need ear protection to fire it indoors without nearly blowing your eardrums. Though according to [[BewareTheNiceOnes Soap]], all guns are impractical compared to knives - as he explains, a big knife is actually more valuable than a gun as WeaponForIntimidation because being silent imparts the dread that the knife is [[ToThePain more likely to be used]]. Not to mention this is set in the UK, a country with [[DoesntLikeGuns some of the most strict and zero-tolerance gun control laws in the world.]]

* ATeamFiring: John when unloading his Bren gun on Winston's group. Granted, he doesn't know exactly where they are, but he is carrying a BFG and firing in their general direction in a fairly small room. The POV shot of his intended targets indicates he got nowhere near.
%%* AwesomeButImpractical: Lampshaded for the Bren gun, the shotguns, and according to Soap, guns in general.

-->That's it. Tie her up, we're out of here.

** The Scouser's stupidity and lack of common sense leads to a great deal of trouble - from them inadvertedly selling the very thing they were supposed to be stealing to them storming a place without even bothering to check who lives there first, which ends very messily.

* RefugeInAudacity: Ed's plan to rip off Dog's gang after they've just robbed the weed growers relies heavily on this, banking on it being the last thing they'd expect after the initial robbery and being above suspicion due to their limited interations as neighbours. When questioned over the logic of hiding the loot right next door to the people they stole it from, he notes that [[StatingTheSimpleSolution it's the only place available to store it]] and also [[HidingInPlainSight the last place the gang would think to look]]. [[TemptingFate This ends up being their undoing.]]

** Soap tends to be the most sensible of his group, including bringing baclavas on his own initiatve to hide their faces for the robbery as Eddie was apparently planning to rob his next-door neighbours without a disguise.

* WhatIsGoingOn: Or rather, "What ''the fuck'' is going on", when Dog's crew and Rory Breaker's gang, both sides fully tooled up, realise that they're confronting ''each other'' rather than the four main characters.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The only characters whose fate is left unclear are Nick the Greek and Winston and his surviving friends. Last we see of any of them, Winston is fleeing with the weed in Rory's van. Alan says that everyone "else" (i.e. not Tom or Big Chris) got arrested, but it's unclear if this refers only to the other three protagonists, or every other character. Certainly, only the former are subsequently seen in custody.

* StupidStatementDanceMix: The "Can everyone stop getting shot?" scene was turned into a UK #1 for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ-27rdwJPs Oxide & Neutrino]] (set to a remix of the ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' {{theme tune}}, of all things).

* TheChewToy: The traffic warden, who thanks to being an [[AcceptableProfessionalTargets Acceptable Professional Target]] gets beaten up by Dog's gang ''and'' the lads.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Ed and his friends have one, as do Dog and his gang. Ed's is kind of funky, while Dog's is more hard rock. Harry has a jazzy theme, while Rory Breaker has a funky one.

* BingeMontage: After Ed's crew manages to steal a truly epic amount of money and high grade cannabis from Dog,they proceed to celebrate in this fashion.

* KillEmAll: There are 17 deaths in this movie. Which doesn't sound like much for a movie like this but it's most of the cast.

* AnAxeToGrind: The self-explanatory Hatchet Harry, though he never uses a hatchet on-screen. And once he's killed, Barry the Baptist throws a hatchet too.

* SawedOffShotgun: Dog and his gang use these as their WeaponOfChoice. Except John, who uses a Bren gun.

* RareGuns:
** The shotguns/"smoking barrels" are worth quite a lot of money as collector's items.
** "What's that?" "It's me [[{{BFG}} Bren gun]]."

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Soap, the sensible one, is shown to have [[KnifeNut a proclivity for sharp objects]], and during the robbery is the first one to break cover, holding one of the gang members at knifepoint [[SuddenlyShouting whilst bellowing in his face]].

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: That poor drug merchant who Dog dispatches with a thrown knife to his stomach at the start is the first person to die in the film. Also, Rory Breaker the Yardie is the first main villain to die, and he's the only black one.
* BladeEnthusiast: Soap reveals that he has a collection of large knives ("big fuck-off shiny ones"), and delivers a speech about how they're more practical than guns because they're quiet, concluding, "Guns for show, knives for a pro." The rest of the gang is creeped out. As the sole member of the group with an honest trade, this is both ironic and fitting. His job as a cook would presumably make him comfortable with knives and butchering.

-->'''Soap''': No, I fucking don't. You cannot make cups of tea, Edward.