Thelma And Louise meets Lock, Stock - or so the makers of this Brit-flick would probably have you believe. But for this to be an enjoyable, fast-paced, chick comedy, it would first have to be a lot brisker than it is, and secondly, a lot funnier.
Shannon (Driver - sporting a haircut from hell) and Frances (McCormack) are the two pals who accidentally overhear a conversation about a safe-breaking in progress, and decide that the money would be rather handy in their own lives. So, they set about blackmailing one of the dumber-than-dumb thieves, little realising that he works for a particularly nasty baddie (McNally) who himself works for the even more sinister Kerrigan (Gambon). Oh, and a pair of witless police officers are on their trail as well.
The setting-up of this situation takes far too long, but once the gals realise things are more complicated than they first imagined, things pick up considerably. Writer Fuller - best known for scripting, erm, Spice World - and director Mel Smith speed up the pace in the second half and pep things up considerably with a mad shoot-out that's fast and funny enough to make you laugh out loud, but unfortunately, this hilarious set-piece also serves to highlight the lack of such amusement in the previous hour. Then, just as it all seems to finally be coming together, the film abruptly ends, leaving you to wonder whether the production ran out of money, or just out of ideas.
Despite all this, the cast are terrific - Gambon is a hoot- and Driver (who should do more comedy) and McCormack, given snappier material, could have given Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis a run for their money in the sassy girls-against-the-world department.