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| Snatch (2005)
 
Starring: Benecio Del Toro, Jason Statham, Brad Pitt, Dennis, Farina, Alan Ford, Rade Serbedzija Director: Guy Ritchie Rating: R Category: Thriller  |
Fresh off his marriage to Madonna, Guy Ritchie returned to the world of cinema in 2000 with his sophomore effort, "Snatch," a highly stylized crime caper in the same vein as his British import "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," but with a satisfying West Coast flair thanks mostly to the addition of Brad Pitt. Featuring an extensive cast of both British and American actors, the film centers on a group of reckless criminals that inadvertently become involved in a labyrinth-like plot full of back-stabbing and two-timing, but with the usual Ritchie cocktail of comical violence and tongue in cheek humor. And while it may seem like an outspoken follow-up to Ritchie's debut feature, "Snatch" works perfectly as a standalone project.
The film begins with the theft of a flawless 86-carat diamond by a Jewish gambling junkie aptly called Franky Four Fingers (Benicio Del Toro). American mobster Cousin Avi (Dennis Farina) is promised the big stone, and his London-based cousin Doug the Head (Mike Reid) is promised some of the smaller ones. Knowing of Franky's nasty gambling habit, Doug the Head hires Boris the Blade (Rade Serbedzija), a gangster renowned for dodging bullets, to steal the diamond from Franky after luring him into betting on a boxing match. Boris calls on three misfit thugs - Sol, Vinny and Tyrone (Lennie James, Robbie Gee, and Ade) - who manage to steal, lose, find and re-lose the diamond across the length of the movie.
On the other side of the story is boxing promoter Turkish (Jason Statham, "Lock, Stock" and "The Transporter") up to his neck in all sorts of problems. Turkish and his buddy Tommy (Stephen Graham) are currently involved in setting up a fight between their man Gorgeous George and the in-house boxer of Brick Top (Alan Ford). Brick Top is the underworld's top crime lord, whose penchant for mercilessly killing others and feeding them to his pigs has not gone unnoticed. But when Gorgeous is knocked out during a rehearsal bout with a gibbering Irish gypsy - Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt) the Pikey is rashly recruited as the replacement. The deal for the underground bout has Mickey taking a dive in the fourth, but there's one small problem: Mickey isn't too sharp about following instructions, and he doesn't like getting knocked out.
"Snatch" is a film with as many subplots as there are characters, but as each character is eliminated, the subplots come closer together, and in true Ritchie style, the movie doesn't end until the words "The End" are physically stamped across the screen. The film bathes in this sort of humor throughout, and as with "Lock, Stock," part of the winning black comedy of Ritchie's vision is that most of the slaughter takes place just left of the cameras. Even when he dwells on the blood lust of his characters, Ritchie does not actually show the bodies being hacked apart or riddled with bullets.
Some critics may put down "Snatch" as a polished remake of "Lock, Stock," but "Snatch" accents everything its former had to offer. It's slicker, snappier, more confident and better acted. And though he does inhabit the same filthy underworld as Tarantino, what Ritchie may lack in originality, he makes up for with boldness and manic energy. And thank goodness Ritchie doesn't think he's an actor. Right from the opening credits, which introduce each of the film's cartoonish characters via stylish freeze-frames; "Snatch" makes it clear it's not meant to be analyzed too closely.
DVD Review:
The two-disc special edition release of "Snatch" is one of the best DVDs of the
year. Featuring both full frame and widescreen versions of the film, a 5.1 Dolby
Digital audio track, and a boatload of extras, this is a DVD set worth spending
a little time with. The first disc includes both versions of the movie, as well
as a few special features. Along with an informative, but not very entertaining
audio commentary track with director Guy Ritchie and producer Matthew Vaughn,
disc one also includes a Pikey subtitle option for the scenes with Brad Pitt,
and a Stealing Stones feature that enables the viewer to watch scenes cut on the
editing room floor by pressing "Enter" whenever a diamond pops up on the bottom
of the screen.
The second disc of the set features the remainder of the bonus material, including a comprehensive making-of featurette, a handful of deleted scenes with optional director commentary, and three storyboard-to-film comparisons. Rounding out the extras is an original video photo gallery, and TV spots and trailers for the film's U.S. release.
~Jason Zingale
jzingale@bullz-eye.com