Smoking Guns

What was intended as a parody instead appears strained and hard to categorize as a standard Western.

Smoking Guns is a 2017 crime drama about a serial gambler on track to hit a big windfall but now has to keep the betting slip safe to collect the winnings. A film like Smoking Guns, also known as A Punters Prayer, has only one thing going for it and if it’s off by even a bit, it falls apart. That’s the characters, which might seem obvious right out of the barrel, but many movies can still get by on visuals and plot. With basically a single room as its setting, and a carousal of oddballs and quirky types swinging through the doors, Smoking Guns thrives on the characters that come and go. It’s not for everyone, but if Londoner black comedies are your thing, and you have even a passing interest in talky guerrilla filmmaking, this one will score big. At the local bookies, a trio of friends spend a Friday afternoon, playing the action, talking big dreams and small chances. They’re led by Jack (Tommy O’Neill), a steady bettor wanting out of the rat race of weekly paychecks and so bets £250 on a horse to win the treble, which means if it wins all three of its races, would bag him a fortune, though the odds are astronomical against. With him are his pals Yiannis (Andreas Karras), an older guy with a hedge-your-bets attitude, and Ian (Jamie Crew), a wee-little man with a chip on shoulder. When two of the races come in his favor, news begins to spread, and in come some seedy fellows lo…

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