Guy Ritchie: Ranking His Movies From Worst To Best

1. Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (1999)

It's strange to think of Guy Ritchie as a director whose first movie is still his best and most accomplished work to date, but it's true: no film that the director has made since encompasses such a true vision of his own style - crazed and over-the-top as it is. It's not a perfect film, and it is amateur-ish and cheap in places (lots of places), but of all Ritchie's pictures this is the one that really feels like an extension of the man himself; the movie you'd pick if you were trying to make an argument for the director as an auteur. As is the case with Snatch, this is a clear and unsubtle Tarantinoness about Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, which tells the story of a botched card game and the ill-effect that it has on four friends played by Dexter Fletcher, Jason Statham, Nick Moran and Jason Flemyng. Essentially what takes place is akin to one giant cartoon, in which reality takes a temporary holiday and finds itself replaced with Ritchie's fast-paced, hyper-active London. Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels is kind of a headache-inducing in the way that its plot pushes relentlessly forward, digging itself in and out of a hole to the point where you're unable to see where the hole was in the first place (or if there was ever a hole at all). But the performances are great in their rawness, the script is funny and self-aware, and the movie genuinely feels like it was directed by somebody with a lot of talent bursting to break free. That Ritchie has never managed to live up to the promise of his debut film is something of a crying shame; in another world, he might have - like his idol Quentin Tarantino - learned some restraint and rendered something more meaningful. But whilst Tarantino made the understated Jackie Brown in the aftermath of Pulp Fiction, Guy Ritchie made Snatch. Like this article? Agree or disagree with the order of our picks? Where does The Man From U.N.C.L.E. fit into things? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.