One thing you can generally count on when you see a film that's not made in America, if it makes the trip across the pond, it's likely to be worth a look. As is the case with LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS, a ridiculous British romp that is part farce, part gangster flick, but wholeheartedly engaging and pretty good entertainment.

Many people seem to be moaning about the comprehension difficulty of the British accents, which probably are a tad thick. At one point the film employs subtitles to aid viewers with the combination Samoan cockney dialect, but for the most part you just have to listen carefully. Maybe bone up on some reruns of "Minder" to get you in the mood.

The plot is a deliciously mangled thing that concerns four lads who try to make money at a poker game. Of course they only end up deeper in debt which they have to somehow manage to redeem within a week or they'll start losing digits. In their desperation, the foolhardly four find themselves in dealings with ridiculously nasty characters, including some bruiser drug dealers and ugly porn vendors. Then there are various characters thrown in almost at random who complicate the story but certainly keep the viewers on their toes.

Surprisingly enough with all the various plot complications, twists and turns, the middle part of the movie almost drags as it labors through making sense of who everyone is and why they're where they are. But the end is brilliant.

There's a certain Tarantino-like edge to the film, especially in the idolization of guns and violence oddly mixed with comedy and freak chance. But there's some innovative camera work that is really interesting to examine.

I also enjoyed the British injokes, especially the North/South slurs. In the old country Londoners all think numbskulls come from up North, as is the case here with two dopey thieves sent to rob a mansion. One thief refuses to pull a stocking over his head because he had just spent a couple of hundred quid on a hairdo that can only be described as splendidly gross.

There were few faces I recognized in the cast line up, except for Sting, who plays the coldhearted father of the poker player and soccer player Vinnie Jones who has a great time as a debt-collector.

All in all, "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" is a nice romp on the dark side of comedy with a healthy dose of absurdity that makes it well worth a Captain Cook.