BY GLENN WHIPP >FILM CRITIC

Remember Guy Ritchie? The explosive gangland caper comedies "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" seem like a lifetime ago, back in a time when Ritchie was known for his bravura filmmaking and not just being Madonna's old man.

Since "Snatch" in 2000, Ritchie has made two movies - the in-family disaster "Swept Away," a stinker whose saving grace was that it finally drove a stake through Madonna's acting career, and "Revolver," a metaphysical heist movie released in England two years ago and just now washing up on American shores.

Just how bad does a movie have to be to have its American release delayed by more than two years? If the idea of watching Ray Liotta walk around in a Speedo for extended periods of time floats your boat or if you've been waiting for the movie in which Deepak Chopra explains the meaning of life over the closing credits, then, by all means, give "Revolver" a spin.

The movie, written and directed by Ritchie and produced by that paragon of restraint, Luc Besson, certainly isn't lacking ambition.

Coherence and credibility, yes. Lofty goals? They're here ... the loftiest imaginable, I suppose.

What Ritchie is after in "Revolver" is nothing less than the Self, namely how we sell our potential short by listening to our inner critic (or that little devil perched on the shoulder or the Great Gazoo ... it varies from person to person). The movie's protagonist, Jake Green (Ritchie regular Jason Statham), is involved in a con all right, but the enemy isn't an external one. It's inside his head.

Just out of prison, Jake wants to exact revenge from casino boss Macha (Liotta, in what can only be called a brave performance), but becomes involved with a couple of philosophical loan sharks (Andre Benjamin and Vincent Pastore), who try to focus him on his real opponent.

Ritchie presents this contorted mess in a way that makes the moviegoer feel like the enemy in an impenetrable game not rewarding enough to play. Philosophical quotes are interspersed with spikes being driven through hands, heads exploding and people set afire. In a movie about control, it's Ritchie who's adrift, and it's not looking like he's going to come back.

Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp@dailynews.com

REVOLVER

>R: violence, language, nudity.
>Starring: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta.
>Director: Guy Ritchie.
>Running time: 1 hr. 46 min.
>Playing: Laemmle's Town Center 5 in Encino; Laemmle's Playhouse in Pasadena; Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood; AMC Loews Broadway 4 in Santa Monica.
>In a nutshell: Ritchie's latest posits that we are our own worst enemies. In the Brit director's case, it's hard to argue.