lock , stock , and two smoking barrels has been described as the british pulp fiction , and on the surface , that would seem like an accurate depiction . it's got the usual cross-section of characters with witty tongues involved in varied illegal activities , that get themselves into very peculiar situations in which no one really survives unscathed . nonetheless , the film seems to be missing something that characterized its predecessor . and right now , you're getting the feeling that i'm about to quickly file lock , stock as another tarantino homage/copy-cat crime , but that's not quite it either . lock , stock is in fact , probably the best film since pulp fiction in which there are no really good guys . like pulp fiction , lock , stock begins with what would seem to be a simple story , that quickly careens out of control . in this case , four buddies ; tom , eddie , bacon , and soap , pool their money together to back can't lose eddie at an unbeknownst-to-them rigged game of cards . of course they get fleeced , and end up in heavy debt to the local heavy . what follows is a madcap plan to recoup the money by intercepting a heist eddie has fortuitously discovered his neighbor is carrying out . the interrelation of the problems with the original heist , along with the interception of it by eddie's gang , and a couple of other local illegal activities result in a frantic circle of destruction . though the web of illegal activity is obviously reminiscent of pulp fiction , where lock , stock most significantly strays from its de facto blue print is in theme . in tarantino's masterpiece , the theme was essentially that there was no theme , no morality . in the gritty underworld , outcome is random . while samuel l . jackson is divinely saved and given a second chance to " walk the earth like kane in kung fu , " his partner in the guise of john travolta is sentenced to death on a toilet . in this incarnation , the badder they are , the worse their fate seems to be , which often is death . the real question now , is why have i rambled on without making much comment on the quality of the movie . the answer of course , is that i don't have much to say . lock , stock is end the end one of those films that pretty much leaves you when you leave it . you can talk about the witty plot , and the funny lines , but in the end , i guess a movie with o one to really root for ( i guess we do root for our four pals a little ) leaves you in the end without too much invested . so we leave it like we left pulp fiction before it , by walking out of the theater and saying , " wow , that was pretty cool , " and not thinking of it after that . ( of course , as with pulp fiction , some could always take a deeper shine to it . ) 
