Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: Thuggish British lowlifes run around in London setting up boxing matches, as well as chase after a missing diamond.
Biased, pithy comments: You can't review this movie without mentioning ``Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels,'' which is Ritchie's first movie and a financial success in England and a drab failure in America. I liked the first, generally---it's an amusing shaggy dog tale without a point, but told with a lot of energy. This is exactly the same movie, with the addition of Brad Pitt and they swapped boxing in for poker. In the DVD notes, Ritchie talks about how he felt during the editing of ``Barrels'' that there was more story he could tell in this genre. I think, in a way that he just kept telling the same story. It's a story about drab thugs running around cheap locations doing thuggish things to one another, all in an amoral universe where virtue isn't its own reward; heck, virtue is completely unknown. I suppose if you thought that ``Barrels'' was a creative tour-de-force, you'll find more to enjoy in this. I was underwhelmed; although I think I knew what was going on, I didn't care very much and the opening credits sequence is actually the most energetic part of the film, which is bad in a film that exists exclusively for its energy. There are some great lines and some good performances (Pitt as a mealy-mouthed gypsie has some great moments), but it's not all that I can recommend.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Many British types, Brad Pitt
Directed by: Guy Ritchie