The front of the DVD box reminds us that Loaded magazine had this pegged as "UNMISSABLE" - says it all really, doesn't it? If you're not familiar with Loaded then think puerile crap for-the-boys, which could be a subtitle for the film. Horribly hackneyed representations of your classic east end gangster type abound, while every intended moment of humour leaves you staring blankly at the screen, if not sighing heavily with impatience. Other people on here have accused this film of being "fun" - sorry kids, but the laughs in here are cheap and obvious: hahaha he just stabbed the fat guy; hehehe he's wearing a strap on dildo; ah the hard-knocks are dressed as bridesmaids. Hilarious. Of course I will now be accused of 'not getting' the dark humour in all of this please, I get it, as would any 9 year old. If you want to see how dark humour should be done then watch Chopper, and then try to tell me that LH&O is better (I'll shoot you down).
There's no sign of talent or a good idea in this film, despite it having the backing of the BBC and a respectable cast, speaking of which lets just dispel a few myths here. "Ray Winstone is great." No he isn't, he has one trick that he does well the London wise-guy hard-man thing but apart from that he's got no range. If you saw him in the ITV drama where he played Henry VIII then you'll know what I mean, or if you could bear that terrible King Arthur film his was the most embarrassing performance, after Clive Owen of course. Sean Pertwee is the best thing about this film, being one of the few who doesn't overact.
Lock, Stock was a good film because it had an intelligent script and an appealing array of characters LH&O has neither. We love gangster films like Goodfellas because (ultimately) they're intelligently made by an intelligent director again, an accusation that cannot be levelled at this tripe. LH&O is just another desperately shameless example of a British film getting financed because there's still a post Lock, Stock market to cash in on. But this bottom-feeder is nowhere near in quality, and is particularly annoying given how deeply in love with itself it appears to be (a characteristic it shares with the equally shoddy Layer Cake). Others have made the observation, but it is worth repeating in summary, that it feels like a series of painfully derivative set pieces centred around weak punch-lines. So, to counter Loaded's opinion (always easy), I would say this film is very, very "MISSABLE".
There's no sign of talent or a good idea in this film, despite it having the backing of the BBC and a respectable cast, speaking of which lets just dispel a few myths here. "Ray Winstone is great." No he isn't, he has one trick that he does well the London wise-guy hard-man thing but apart from that he's got no range. If you saw him in the ITV drama where he played Henry VIII then you'll know what I mean, or if you could bear that terrible King Arthur film his was the most embarrassing performance, after Clive Owen of course. Sean Pertwee is the best thing about this film, being one of the few who doesn't overact.
Lock, Stock was a good film because it had an intelligent script and an appealing array of characters LH&O has neither. We love gangster films like Goodfellas because (ultimately) they're intelligently made by an intelligent director again, an accusation that cannot be levelled at this tripe. LH&O is just another desperately shameless example of a British film getting financed because there's still a post Lock, Stock market to cash in on. But this bottom-feeder is nowhere near in quality, and is particularly annoying given how deeply in love with itself it appears to be (a characteristic it shares with the equally shoddy Layer Cake). Others have made the observation, but it is worth repeating in summary, that it feels like a series of painfully derivative set pieces centred around weak punch-lines. So, to counter Loaded's opinion (always easy), I would say this film is very, very "MISSABLE".