Since it's an ensemble piece, it'll take a bit of explaining.
- We'll start by looking at the four long-time friends who serve as our protagonists:
- Bacon, a laid-back and straightforward street vendor, played by Jason Statham
- Eddy, played by Nick Moran, an optimistic and naive card sharp who acts as Bacon's shill
- Tom, an opportunistic business-minded grocer, played by Jason Flemyng
- Soap, a pessimistic and anxious chef, played by Dexter Fletcher (who's also quite fond of knives)
This is actually where I have my biggest criticism: What is Harry's grudge against JD? I'm assuming that JD had played against Harry and won, investing his winnings in his bar. Harry's debt collector, Big Chris (played by Vinnie Jones), visits JD and suggests that hands the deed to his bar over to Harry. I've heard the director's cut explores this a little more, but I haven't seen it. Having to seek those out doesn't always make for a good story.
Anyway, we've established the main story, now we'll look at the subplots:
- Dog (played by Frank Harper), Eddy and Bacon's next door neighbour and the leader of a ruthless gang of extortionists, is planning to rob a group of chemists who are running a highly lucrative cannabis-growing operation. When Eddy hears about this, he hatches a plan to ambush the gang and steal the cash and drugs.
- Harry's right-hand-man, Barry "The Baptist" (played by Lenny McLean), hires two bumbling Liverpudlians named Dean and Gary to steal a pair of antique shotguns from a bankrupt lord. Instructed to get "everything inside the gun cabinet", they unwittingly sell the two coveted shotguns because they weren't in the cabinet, and are intimidated into bringing them back. The buyer, a fence called "Nick the Greek" (played by Stephen Marcus), sells them to Tom for their heist. He also arranges to sell the stolen drugs to a sociopathic gangster named Rory Breaker (played by Vas Blackwood).
The film tries to develop all the groups of characters, but I fear it does so at the expense of the protagonists. The main thing the four friends do is get saddled with the gambling debt and then rob Dog's crew. After that, most of the conflict is between the other characters. However, this still provides a great climax, and allows the four friends to avoid the worst of the consequences. While their story ends on both a literal and figurative cliffhanger, there are still some plot threads which they could have addressed. The main one is that of Winston, the lead chemist (played by Steven Mackintosh), who recovers the stolen drugs and leaves. It's not stated what happens to him or his housemates after the robbery.
While these are a few minor issues, they're still difficult for me to overlook. But the dialogue and black comedy more than make up for it. There are a ton of quotable lines, such as a monologue by Soap about why knives are superior to guns. It's established that Soap got his name because he likes to keep his hands clean of anything unlawful, so this is a side to him that we haven't seen. And neither have his friends, who become more afraid of him than they are of Dog's crew. Yeah, there's violence, but most of it is implied.
If there's anybody who steals the show, it's Vinnie Jones as Big Chris. I've already stated that he's Harry's debt collector, so you can imagine he's a tough guy (like most of the actor's subsequent roles). But he's also accompanied by his son, Little Chris, whom he deeply cares for (to the point where he scolds people for swearing in front of them). He also seems genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of others (whom he isn't shaking down).
All in all, it's worth a watch. It's been emotional.
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