Snatch. (2000)

reviewed by
John Beachem

SNATCH

Review by John Beachem

* * * *

Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Written by: Guy Ritchie

What do a gambler named Franky Four Fingers (Benincio Del Toro), a hit-man named Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones), and a gypsy caravan dealer named Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt) have in common? It's almost too complicated to explain, but I'll do my best. Franky Four Fingers has just been given an 84 karat diamond to take back to the US and put in the hands of a jewel dealer named Cousin Avi (Dennis Farina). Unfortunately, the apparently incincible Boris the Blade (Rade Serbedzija) wants the diamond before it leaves the UK and sends a few down on their luck jewelers (Robbie Gee, Lennie James, Ade) to get it for him. They sort of succeed, and Cousin Avi is forced to go to London to get it for himself. He hires Bullet Tooth to track down Boris before the mad Russian can get it out of the country. Meanwhile, two boxing promoters named Turkish (Jason Statham) and Tommy (Stephen Graham) have a problem of their own. They promised the local big shot gangster, Brick Top (Alan Ford) that their man would go down in the fourth round of the latest match. Unfortunately, their man just got his clock cleaned by Mickey O'Neil that he won't be able to fight at all. So, they hire Mickey to take the fall instead. The only problem with that plan is that Mickey appears to have trouble following instructions. He seems to believe that "Go down in the fourth" actually means "Knock the other guy out with one hit." All these characters and more will meet up, cross paths, and make each others' lives quite interesting over the course of one week.

I know it's almost a crime to say this, but I wasn't a big fan of Guy Ritchie's first effort, 1998's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. I wasn't overly entertained by it, I found the kinetic, hyper-active style irritating, and it struck me as not half as cool as it thought it was. I guess this style of filmmaking grows on a person, because while Snatch contains many of the same filming elements, I enjoyed it quite a bit more. I'm not saying I walked out of the theater wondering at what a marvelous film I'd just witnessed, but I can certainly say that I didn't regret spending six bucks to see it. It's the sort of fast paced, vulgar, violent movie most American audiences will probably eat up. Now, if you've read my reviews before you're probably wondering why I liked it if most American audiences did. Well, I enjoyed it for two reasons: One, the actors are all clearly having a great time, and that always carries over to the audience; and two, it's the kind of pitch black comedy that always keeps me cackling like some sick, demented weirdo. Which brings up another point; if you don't like your comedies to contain horrifying comedy similar to that in, say, Fight Club, give this movie a wide berth.

A great man pointed out to me that Brad Pitt is at his best when playing a goofy character, and at his worst when forced to try an accent. It's as though Pitt himself were listening in on us when we had this conversation, because he's decided to combine the two. Of course, I use the word "accent" in its loosest sense since nearly everything Pitt says in the film is completely unintelligible. Amazingly enough, he manages to be very entertaining despite having only one or two lines the audience can understand. Obviously I'm not going to cover every actor in a movie with a cast this size, so I'll just cover a few of the high points. Vinnie Jones (Gone in 60 Seconds) is ideal as the suave, smarter than he looks, Bullet Tooth Tony; and the way he plays a scene where he's confronted by two guys with fake guns is simply priceless. Alan Ford (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels) is quite good as the menacing Brick Top; Dennis Farina (wasted in Reindeer Games) is a riot as the uptight Cousin Avi; and Jason Statham (Lock, Stock) nicely underplays the role of Turkish. You're probably why I haven't mentioned Benicio Del Toro, who was galvanizing in Traffic. Well, it's because despite his being prominently mentioned both in the previews and in my plot summary, his role amounts to little more than a cameo. Bad call Mr. Ritchie.

I knew from the start, when that shopping list of characters was introduced in the space of about three minutes, that this ride was going to be either very confusing and quite funny, or just plain confusing. As the story began, and plot lines flew freely about the screen while laughs were scarce, I began to fear the latter possibility was manifesting itself. Thankfully, after a rocky twenty minutes or so, the film finds its groove and the comedy begins. Also, despite what looks to be a confusing story and some of the most hyperactive direction you're likely to find, Snatch is remarkably easy to follow. All the plot lines intersect (or perhaps I should say run head-first into one another), all the characters are fleshed out, and we're given a few nice little twists. It's by no means an outstanding movie, and it will probably leave your mind shortly after exiting the theater (I know it left mine about that quick, and it's a good thing I remembered to take notes this time around), but it doesn't aspire to be ground breaking. This movie is present for one reason alone: to entertain; and, unlike so many movies which came out of the year 2000, this one actually succeeds due to its quirky and amusing characters, its inability to take itself seriously, and its frantic pacing which never lets you catch your breath.

Sadly, there are still a few elements working against Snatch in addition to the opening act. Like Lock, Stock before it, Snatch simply isn't quite as cool as it thinks it is. Throughout the film I was struck by the fact that Ritchie had only some vague idea what a cool movie was, so he tried every approach possible in an attempt to create such a movie. He hits a few times, primarily in the scenes which smack of Quentin Tarantino, but otherwise he just can't quite seem to get it right. Strangely enough, while this same problem really bothered me in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, it didn't much grate on my nerves this time around. I was just too caught up in laughing at the constant stream of bizarre and eccentric characters to care much that Ritchie didn't have a clue how to make a movie as cool as, say, Pulp Fiction, which he obviously idolizes. I feel I should mention the film's soundtrack, which doesn't contain a single song I'd normally enjoy, but also not a single one that doesn't fit the tone of the movie. Snatch runs a little too long at 104 minutes. I'd recommend the film to fans of Ritchie's previous effort, to fans of Brad Pitt since he gives a very amusing performance, and to people who love movies which simply refuse to let up in the action. I give Snatch four out of five stars.