Drugs, money, violence, betrayal, golf clubs, soccer and kilts. It looks like an odd grouping, butScreen Gems' new film "Formula 51" ties them all together in one neat package. Samuel L. Jackson stars as Elmo McElroy, a pharmacist who turned to a life of drug production following an unfortunate incident immediately after receiving his pharmacy license. The film opens on a California road in 1971, when a highway patrolman pulls McElroy over and finds him with marijuana. The unwavering cop writes up the incident and ruins McElroy's pharmaceutical career plans.Thirty years later, Elmo is the master chemist for a man known as The Lizard (Meat Loaf of "Fight Club"), a raging Los Angeles drug lord. Sick of having to use his scientific competence for illegal purposes, Elmo devises a master plan to escape this life and start anew. He creates P.O.S. 51, a small blue pill that promises to be 51 times as powerful as any substance currently available. The glory of this new drug is that all of the ingredients can be obtained legally. So, Elmo packs his bags, sets an explosive trap for The Lizard, and leaves Los Angeles for Liverpool, England, where he will sell the formula to the British drug peddler Durant (Ricky Tomlinson) for a handsome sum.

Robert Carlyle ("The World is Not Enough") is Felix DeSouza, an employee of Durant, who is assigned to lead Elmo around Liverpool. Displeased with his task, Felix is more concerned with the upcoming soccer match between Manchester and Liverpool. Meanwhile, The Lizard survives Elmo's attempts to dispatch him, and sends out Dakota (Emily Mortimer of "Notting Hill"), his strikingly beautiful but somewhat conflicted sniper and, coincidentally, Felix's ex-girlfriend, to kill everybody involved in Elmo's new arrangement, except Elmo.

After Dakota completes her job, Elmo and Felix, the two survivors, must find a new buyer for P.O.S. 51. Eccentric club owner/arms dealer/yoga failure Iki (Rhys Ifans of "The Shipping News") offers $20 million for the formula, but as with any cinematic drug scheme, there are plenty of mishaps along the way. In this situation, Elmo's unfamiliarity with British culture creates some very humorous mishaps, ranging from a car chase on the wrong side of the road to a disgust for blood pudding.

Many of the characters are enigmatic. Elmo goes to Liverpool wearing a kilt and carrying only the drugs and a set of golf clubs. The kilt is unexplained and the clubs are used mostly for things other than striking a little white ball. In his performance as Elmo, Jackson proves himself to be one of the best contemporary actors. He makes Elmo able to aggressively push his creation and then turn around and make humorous remarks about British culture. This is by no means a new type of role for him, but Jackson's performance, as in past performances, makes the moviegoer find it difficult to imagine anyone more suitable.

Felix is little more than a drug lord's smart-alecky employee, but his obsession with soccer adds something to his character. Carlyle puts in an adequate effort, but little more. Dakota is conflicted in the sense that she suffers from a crisis of nationality. Sometimes she is British, other times she is an American. Mortimer, who is known more for her work on English television and less for her big-screen roles, does not make a great impact in the film.

Sean Pertwee of "Love, Honour, and Obey" plays a Liverpool detective obsessed with stopping the deal. The cops delay sale sale a few times, but ultimately play only a small role in the plot. Meat Loaf gives the other impressive performance of the movie as the kimono-clad Lizard. In playing such an eccentric character, Meat Loaf shows how much he can overact, and it works quite well.

Screenwriter Stel Pavlou's debut script contains plenty of funny moments, but it drags at times. The romance between Felix and Dakota is typical at best, and some things that could provide for running gags get lost or not used at all. Additionally, the humor reaches a very lowbrow point during Elmo and Felix's interaction with a band of skin-head hooligans. Director Ronny Yu ("Bride of Chucky"), a veteran of Hong Kong action movies, did a fine job of directing this film, especially the more fast-paced moments. Ultimately, though, "Formula 51" is entertaining, but by no means original.