Guy Ritchie burst onto the scene with his debut film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998, having only made one short before that, titled The Hard Case. His energetic and humourous style made Ritchie’s film an instant hit, introducing the world to Jason Statham in the process. Ritchie’s follow-up film, another crime caper comedy called Snatch, was also a big hit, and the debate wages on as to which of the films is the better one.
In 2000, Ritchie married pop star Madonna, and the two of them made a remake of the 1974 movie Swept Away, which was a pretty big disaster at the box office. His next project, Revolver, also failed to meet audiences’ expectations, although his 2008 film RockNRolla was greeted with largely positive reviews. More recently, Ritchie has directed two Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey Jr. as the titular detective: Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows. His style hasn’t changed much since his debut film, but Guy Ritchie’s movies always manage to entertain me…except for Swept Away. Guy Ritchie turns 45 today.