As a movie Lock Stock doesn't hold up that well after 10 years. The pace is surprisingly slow, the dialogue atrocious, the acting mixed, and there are far too many characters for a director of average talent to control effectively. However as a social and cultural document it is an incredibly enlightening historical piece that shows Britain in the early years of New Labour and the media's obsession with Cool Britannia.
Blair was all about a 'classless society' and what could be more classless than an Old Etonian writing and directing about cor blimey gangsters down in the East End and then landing Madonna as his 'trouble and strife'? Throw in Sting's wife as a producer, real life enforcer, 'The Guvnor' as a villain, and an aging footballer famous for grabbing Gazza by the short and curlies and you have a New Labour dream.
Not only is Lock Stock the New Labour ideal; it is also the logical conclusion of the New Lad culture that dominated Britain in the mid-90s. The list of… more »

As a movie Lock Stock doesn't hold up that well after 10 years. The pace is surprisingly slow, the dialogue atrocious, the acting mixed, and there are far too many characters for a director of average talent to control effectively. However as a social and cultural document it is an incredibly enlightening historical piece that shows Britain in the early years of New Labour and the media's obsession with Cool Britannia.
Blair was all about a 'classless society' and what could be more classless than an Old Etonian writing and directing about cor blimey gangsters down in the East End and then landing Madonna as his 'trouble and strife'? Throw in Sting's wife as a producer, real life enforcer, 'The Guvnor' as a villain, and an aging footballer famous for grabbing Gazza by the short and curlies and you have a New Labour dream.
Not only is Lock Stock the New Labour ideal; it is also the logical conclusion of the New Lad culture that dominated Britain in the mid-90s. The list of various factors that came together to let the then unfashionable gangster genre back onto British cinema screens is a long one: Loaded magazine, the success of Euro96, Brit Pop, Noel and Liam, Damien Hirst, super clubs, Bigbeat, Tarantino, Trainspotting, The Prodigy and Underworld; plus the hedonistic lifestyle enjoyed by extended licensing hours and cheaper drugs. Perhaps the most interesting development was the increased fascination with the London underworld fuelled by the media, an upsurge in criminal memoirs, and television appearances by Mad Frankie Fraser and Dave Courtney and anyone remotely connected to the Krays. These 'old fashioned' villains were in real life mostly redundant, London being run by Triads, Yardies, and Turkish Heroin gangs. Lock Stock takes place in a mythical London, an oxtail coloured retro throwback to The Sweeny, Only Fools And Horses, Get Carter, The Italian Job, The Long Good Friday, The Professionals and even Shaft. The locations are so enclosed that this criminal bubble is never burst. The Police are largely absent as are women, and the cars are from every decade except the 90s, further heightening the illusion. The Cockney slang is ridiculous in places, most notably Barfly Jack's monologue, and it is tempting to blame an upper class writer for his lack of ear for working-class dialogue, yet this could be deliberately exaggerated to continue his heightened reality.
Ritchie creates a morally ambiguous world where traditional class structures are turned on their head. Chris has no qualms committing violence in front of his son Little Chris but will reprimand him for swearing. Chris is also the archetypal professional villain, trusted to return a debt in full and never helping himself to extra. He is seen as morally superior to the other criminals as he has his son's welfare at heart, a nod to the Kray Twins being excused a lot of their worst crimes because 'they loved their mum.'
Chris is near the top of Lock Stock's criminal hierarchy headed by Porn King 'Hatchet' Harry. At the bottom perversely are the ex public school boys who grow the super skunk for Rory Breaker's black gang who are modelled on Blaxploitation movies than Yardie gangsters. In crime class and racial barriers are torn up and inverted, yet the public school boys mostly survive, as they don't pose a violent threat. Similarly the four wide boys flirtation with real villains ends peacefully for them, as they are no real threat to anyone. Their survival is really a cautionary tale and a very moral one at that, the cliffhanger ending suggests they will not profit from Chris' professional courtesy.