Don't get me wrong; this movie was very funny! The scene where Harvey Keitel is tied up and calls his associate had me on the floor in tears laughing. My concern, however, is that not only does Brad Mirman use many of the same shots as Guy Ritchie, but the story line almost completely mirrors Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. I hope royalties were paid and credit was given where credit is due.
shareI think with any genre film there are bound to be similarities. Yes, when one watches Crime Spree other films come to mind. Can you watch Lock Stock and not think ot Tarantino? Can you watch Tarantino and not think of other directors? Tarantino is the fisrt to admit he borrows heavily from other films. To make it sound as if the director of Crime Spree stole from other directors is a little harsh. I think infulenced is perhaps a better word.
I have also heard that the character 'Half Tooth Tony' in Crime Spree was Brad Mirman's way of giving praise by using a name close to 'Bullet Tooth Tony' from Snatch, and thus giving a wink to Ritchie.
I just saw the movie and found it hilarious!
The similarities between Crime Spree and Lock, Stock are numerous, but since Guy Ritchie hasn’t made a sequel I was happy to notice them. Besides, imitation is said to be the most sincere form of flattery.
the ending was really similiar. Ritchie's was a lot more ambigious, but they were still alike. i agree that the movie was hysterical, but it was no Lock, Stock. The whole movie i couldnt help but compare them.
shareSo imitation is said to be the most sincere form of flattery. In that case does that mean that credit card fraud is just a criminal’s way of paying homage to your elaborate florid signature? That old phrase "run it through your typewriter' isn’t a nom de plume for plagiarism but only a light hearted compliment from a respectful fellow writer, get real.
No, this film is nothing but a weak exercise in cinematic smash and grab, a lame duck of a gag and script heist from start to finish. It mug’s characters and snatches plot lines lock-stock from ‘lock-Stock’ and Snatch.
In these films the violence deeply humorous dark black comedy whereas here it’s not even mildly amusing and it’s usually misplaced.
This film is not only badly acted, badly paced, with plot devices placed with the subtlety of a post-it note on the screen but it manages to have comedy timing that is pathetic. Given the rich vein of source material and that in this case rehearsal only needed to consist sitting down with a can of larger and watching a few DVD’s this an amazing achievement.
"Crime Spree" is infinitely superior to anything that Guy "Swept Away" Wretchie has ever done.
You obviously haven't seen Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Swept Away was a mistake, but if that is all you have seen, then you're missing some excellent directing.
shareI just don't get all this need to compare films. You could spend your life saying things like 'Predator' is like 'Alien' on earth - or that 'Lock Stock' is like 'Pulp Fiction' because they have muliple storylines - or that 'We Were Soldiers' is like 'Platoon' because they're war stories set in Vietnam - or that 'American Pie' is like 'Porky's' because it's a comedy dealing with horney teenagers. And let's not even get into all the body switching movies we've seen over the years! I could go on and on, but what's the point. I honestly don't get why people have this need to compare... so it's similar. Big Deal. Many films are.
If you look hard enough you can find similarities in many films. For me the question is: Did I enjoy the movie? In the case of Crime Spree, yes I did. I have seen both Lock Stock and Snatch and can honestly say I was not thinking about similarities when I watched it. I just enjoyed the movie for what it was.
Another point is that many scripts take years and years to get made. I don't know when Crime Spree was written, but it is entirely possible that is was written before Lock Stock was ever made and only took longer to get to the screen.
Crime Spree, Lock Stock and Snatch are all good movies. If you like one more than the other that's fine, but I just don't get these need for comparision.
I'll give you the subtlety of the plot devices, but badly acted? No, my friend. "Lock, Stock" was a thousand times worse in terms of acting. Whenever Barry the Baptist was on the screen, I wanted to cry. He was so terrible, I knew that Keanu Reeves was out there patting himself on the back for being respectable in comparison. That's the price you pay, I guess, for getting real-life ex-cons to be in your movies. Also, Dexter Fletcher is pretty abominable, though he often gets overlooked. And oy, don't even get me started on Vinnie Jones.
A rip-off? Most definitely. Not as good as the source material? Probably. But it has one superiority and that's the better cast.
Also, despite the fact that it heavily borrows, I do like it. Tarantino might, too, steal like a bastard, but he turns the source into something better. Mirman doesn't have the skill to do that, but he can craft something equitable.
For those of you who didn't compare "Crime Spree" to Ritchie's work whilst watching the film, I don't know how you managed to pull that one off. The similarities were jarring. Kudos to you for being able to enjoy it for what it was.
Crime Spree isn't infinitely superior to anything.
On the contrary, I just saw a dog take a dump on the sidewalk and that was infinitely superior to Crime Spree.
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A fist draft of the script for Crime Spree is now online at Drew's script o rama. On the cover page it is dated 1996. Lock Stock did not come out for another two years. I think we have a tendancy to look at what gets made first as what was written first. And this is not always the case. Some films just take longer to get made. Just because Lock Stock was filmed and released before Crime Spree doesn't mean that that ideas were borrowed. I don't know what the truth is, but I thought it was interesting enough to bring up.
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