Guy's "Ritchie-Rich" Success

Rating: Null/10 (25 July 2001)

Some say that Snatch is a poor follow up of Ritchie's first film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I say that this is an improvement on his signature style, an aggressive and a supercharged 21-gun salute to Britain film/filmmakers. The deftness displayed in this writer/director's pacing and editing is at times electrifying and sometimes simply beautiful. The soundtrack is not only superb and includes one of my personal favorite bands, Oasis, and is used to great comic effect as an poignant accompaniment to certain scenes.
A more violent film you aren't likely to see this year. In the vein of Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, and Fight Club, Snatch is a gritty dance with the criminal element, revolving around a stolen 86-karat diamond that any good crook would give his right arm for. (And in one case, I mean that literally.)
After a boggling series of double-crosses, triple-crosses, and multi-crosses, Snatch becomes a game of who will end up with the gem -- and how will they get it? Ritchie keeps us guessing at every turn, with Russians hiring mercenary crooks to steal the jewel, hit men sent to kill the mercenaries, mobsters trying to outwit the hit men, Jewish jewelers scheming to undermine the mobsters, a crazed bare-knuckled boxer looking for his payday despite the chaos, and one dog who's lost his bark.
And every one of these stories is hilarious.
Vinnie Jones (Gone in 60 Seconds) as Bullet Tooth Tony, a hunter/assassin who chills his prey with deadly stares; Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) is caught-in-the-middle robber/gambling addict; Dennis Farina, a stressed jeweler who can never catch a break; or any of two dozen other apt actors who fully own their roles. In the end, though, you have to give a hand to Brad Pitt, still buff from Fight Club, as a slur-mouthed Gypsy boxer who always manages to get one step ahead of the crowd.
Guy runs through the entire pantheon of MTV camera tricks: slow motion, fast motion, stop motion, reverse motion, low angles, high angles, upside down camerawork, and more.
There are some funny lines, and some of the violence is quite inventive. Several times in this movie I was reminded of the "strange occurrences" theme seen in Magnolia. All in all this film I wholeheartedly recommend.