What ensues is an ultimatum; a clumsy caper with so many characters they'd overwhelm a lesser movie; and a tremendous amount of mayhem that, while putting our boys squarely in the line of fire, really does stay aggressively this side of funny.

It roars and ignites and hits the ground running.

A n inverse cost-to-quality ratio seems to have been operating in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," Guy Ritchie's debut feature about four cocky young men coming up against major thugs in London's East End.

The fact of the matter is, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is one of the most important British films in recent memory, or at least one of the most influential.