Editing Guy Ritchie (section)

=== 1998–2002: Breakthrough ===
After working on a short film, ''The Hard Case'' (1995), in 1998, Ritchie met [[Matthew Vaughn]], who had been working in Los Angeles and expressed interest in producing Ritchie's directorial debut, ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'' (1998). It took 15 months to secure financial backing.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1331187/Film-producer-gives-credit-to-the-Tories.html|title=Film producer gives credit to the Tories|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=21 May 2001|access-date=12 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109063854/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1331187/Film-producer-gives-credit-to-the-Tories.html|archive-date=9 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Blake|first=Y Veronica|date=1999-06-20|title=How we met: Guy Ritchie & Matthew Vaughn|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-guy-ritchie-matthew-vaughn-1101427.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419004637/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-guy-ritchie-matthew-vaughn-1101427.html|archive-date=19 April 2019|access-date=12 March 2020|website=The Independent}}</ref> [[Trudie Styler]] served as an executive producer—she said "I've always liked bad-boy movies".<ref>{{cite web|last=Sherwin|first=Adam|date=8 December 2013|title=Trudie Styler: 'Shakespeare gave guys the best roles'|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/trudie-styler-shakespeare-gave-guys-the-best-roles-8990857.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917154035/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/trudie-styler-shakespeare-gave-guys-the-best-roles-8990857.html|archive-date=17 September 2015|access-date=12 March 2020|website=The Independent}}</ref>

{{quote box
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| quote = There's a perennial pub debate that poses the question: Which is better, ''[[Snatch (film)|Snatch]]'' or ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels|Lock Stock]]''? ''Snatch'' apologists talk a good game, but the correct answer is, of course, Guy Ritchie's jaw-dropping debut. After all, this is a movie that brought the world '[[Jason Statham|The Stath]]', [[Vinnie Jones]] hammering someone's skull with a car door, and the knowledge that a big purple dildo can be used as an offensive weapon.
| salign = right
| source = —''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine's entry for ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' on their list of the 100 best British films<ref>{{cite news |title=The 100 best British films |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100britishfilms/ |access-date=4 September 2019 |work=Empire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904144411/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100britishfilms/ |archive-date=4 September 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

The production of comedy [[heist film]] ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' was completed in about eight months. Starring [[Nick Moran]], [[Jason Statham]], [[Jason Flemyng]] and [[Dexter Fletcher]], the film exposed them to worldwide audiences, and launched the acting career of former footballer [[Vinnie Jones]]. It was released in the United Kingdom on 28 August 1998 to critical and commercial success, with [[Janet Maslin]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praising Ritchie's "brash, ebullient direction" and "punchy little flourishes that load this English gangster film".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Maslin|first=Janet|date=1999-03-05|title='Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels': Keeping the Thugs in Constant Motion|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/030599lock-film-review.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624152815/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/030599lock-film-review.html|archive-date=24 June 2019|access-date=2020-03-08|website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref> The feature earned $28.1 million at the worldwide box office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lock-Stock-and-Two-Smoking-Barrels|title=Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1999) - Financial Information|website=The Numbers|access-date=2020-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225215747/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lock-Stock-and-Two-Smoking-Barrels|archive-date=25 December 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> At the 1999 [[British Academy Film Awards]] (BAFTAs), ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' was nominated for three awards: [[BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film|Outstanding British Film]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]] and [[BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer|Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer]] for Vaughn. The film won a BAFTA for Film of the Year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1999/film|title=Film in 1999 {{!}} BAFTA Awards|website=awards.bafta.org|access-date=2020-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307174641/http://awards.bafta.org/award/1999/film|archive-date=7 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In response to the film's success, Ritchie created a spin-off television series called ''[[Lock, Stock...]]''. in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/may/27/2|title=Oi! Mate! Wanna buy a spin-off?|date=2000-05-27|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-08|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624150312/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/may/27/2|archive-date=24 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ritchie's next film was ''[[Snatch (film)|Snatch]]'' (2000), another crime-comedy about a group of criminals searching for a stolen diamond. Starring an ensemble cast including [[Benicio del Toro]], [[Dennis Farina]], Flemyng, Jones, [[Brad Pitt]], [[Rade Šerbedžija]] and Statham. Similar to ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'', the film depicted events from different characters' perspectives; a [[Plot device|narrative device]] which he would use in later films. ''Snatch'' was released on 23 August 2000 to a commercial success at the box office, grossing more than $83 million worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0208092/?ref_=bo_se_r_1|title=Snatch|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=2020-03-10}}</ref> [[Mick LaSalle]], writing for ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', was impressed with Ritchie's directing and "sequences that discharge with energy", but felt the writing could have been better.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Pitt-Finds-His-Groove-Snatch-has-flashes-of-2963148.php|title=Pitt Finds His Groove / "Snatch' has flashes of brilliance but needs script doctor|last=LaSalle|first=Mick|date=2001-01-19|website=SFGate|access-date=2020-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706215116/https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Pitt-Finds-His-Groove-Snatch-has-flashes-of-2963148.php|archive-date=6 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] describes Ritchie as a "zany, high-energy director" but felt the film's plot "doesn't build and it doesn't arrive anywhere".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/snatch-2001|title=Snatch movie review & film summary (2001) {{!}} Roger Ebert|last=Ebert|first=Roger|website=www.rogerebert.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127213327/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/snatch-2001|archive-date=27 January 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2001, Ritchie directed a music video for "[[What It Feels Like for a Girl]]", a song performed by [[Madonna]], to whom Ritchie was married at the time. In the video, she commits criminal and violent acts towards men; music channels [[MTV]] and [[VH1]] banned the video from their rotation, opting to play it only once on the release date.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1441849/madonnas-new-video-too-hot-for-tv/|title=Madonna's New Video: Too Hot For TV|website=MTV News|language=en|access-date=2020-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114013632/http://www.mtv.com/news/1441849/madonnas-new-video-too-hot-for-tv/|archive-date=14 January 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> Ritchie directed a short film starring Madonna and [[Clive Owen]], titled ''Star'' for season one of ''[[The Hire]]'', a 2001 online series to promote [[BMW]] automobiles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jalopnik.com/bmws-the-hire-was-ahead-of-the-curve-and-still-has-no-833978195|title=BMW's The Hire Was Ahead Of The Curve And Still Has No Equal|website=Jalopnik|date=23 July 2013 |language=en-us|access-date=2020-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226203845/https://jalopnik.com/bmws-the-hire-was-ahead-of-the-curve-and-still-has-no-833978195|archive-date=26 December 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Ritchie's next film, starring Madonna and [[Adriano Giannini]], was ''[[Swept Away (2002 film)|Swept Away]]'' (2002), a remake of [[Lina Wertmüller]]'s 1974 Italian film of the [[Swept Away (1974 film)|same name]]. It is a romantic comedy about a wealthy socialite who is shipwrecked on a deserted island with a Communist sailor. The film was a critical and commercial failure, with an average rating of 5% on film [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Swept Away (2002)|date=11 October 2002 |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1116774_swept_away|language=en|access-date=2020-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102045816/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1116774_swept_away|archive-date=2 November 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl762676737/|title=Swept Away|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=2020-03-09}}</ref> Almar Haflidason of the [[BBC]] was critical of the lead actors, writing, "[Madonna] has neither good comedic sense nor any warmth [...] as for Giannini, he spends the first half of the movie endlessly complaining like some old fishwife".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Haflidason|first=Almar|date=2003-05-12|title=BBC - Films - Swept Away|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/05/08/swept_away_2003_review.shtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327070817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/05/08/swept_away_2003_review.shtml|archive-date=27 March 2019|access-date=2020-03-09|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> The feature won five awards at the [[23rd Golden Raspberry Awards|2002 Golden Raspberry Awards]] for [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture|Worst Picture]], [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress|Worst Actress]], [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple/Ensemble|Worst Screen Couple]], [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel|Worst Remake or Sequel]] and [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director|Worst Director]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Morrison|first=Matt|date=2018-01-26|title=26 Worst Movies Ever Made (According To The Razzies)|url=https://screenrant.com/worst-movies-ever-made-razzies/|access-date=2020-07-10|website=ScreenRant|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2003-03-25|title=Showbiz Gossip: The Golden Raspberry Awards|url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/showbiz-gossip-golden-raspberry-awards-1645487|access-date=2020-07-10|newspaper=Chroniclelive |last1=Chronicle |first1=Evening }}</ref>

In 2002, Ritchie conceived a prank show titled ''[[Swag (TV series)|Swag]]'', for [[Channel 5 (UK)|Channel 5]] in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 11 Guy Ritchie Moments |url=http://www.ugo.com/movies/guy-ritchie-cameraman-stabbed |publisher=[[UGO Networks]] |access-date=18 August 2012 |date=13 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113024615/http://www.ugo.com/movies/guy-ritchie-cameraman-stabbed |archive-date=13 November 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>