MAN--Guy Ritchie is a f***ing genius!

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2004)

SNATCH has two main plots. The first is of an unlicensed boxing promoter named Turkish (Jason Statham) and his sidekick Tommy (Stephen Graham), who get ordered by Brick Top (Alan Ford) to arrange a fight and then throw it. After Turkish and Tommy's original fighter, Gorgeous George (Adam Fogerty), is made unable to fight by the gypsy Mickey (Brad Pitt), the pair convinces Mickey to fight instead. When Mickey fails to go down in the fourth as Brick Top instructs Turkish and Tommy to make him do, he puts the two in a potentially lethal position if he doesn't come through the next time.
The other plot is about a diamond heist. Franky Four Fingers (Benicio Del Toro) and his men steal it initially, but then the diamond is stolen by Vinny (Robbie Gee), Sol (Lennie James), and Tyrone (Ade). Soon Avi (Dennis Farina) and his men, who were supposed to receive the diamond from Franky Four Fingers, come looking for it, putting Vinny, Sol, and Tyrone in potentially lethal situations as well.
Got all of that? I know, it's a lot for just one movie.
But man... SNATCH has to be one of the best movies I've seen recently. I saw it on TV one night and was blown away even then, and knew I had to rent the unedited version. I was very, very impressed. The four main things that make SNATCH so good:
1. The screenplay. It's absolutely hilarious and very well-written. For the most part it's very lighthearted and fun, but there are a couple of really powerful scenes as well (the burning of the caravan and after Gorgeous George gets knocked out). And, might I add, the plots and the way they, and the characters they involve, interact... is genius.
2. The acting. All of the actors are brilliant and perfect in their roles, adding the right amounts of humor and seriousness at the right times. It's hard for me to pick out any standout actors, because they're all terrific--but, if I have to: Jason Statham and Stephen Graham, who make a great pair; Robbie Gee and Lennie James, who also make a great pair; and specifically Brad Pitt as Mickey. Every Brad Pitt movie I see, he proves himself to me more and more as an actor--but this film really sealed the deal for me. Everyone is terrific in this one. The characters are tough and yet wimpy, and there is no definitive good or bad guy, which I really like.
3. The style and creativity. Honestly, from the moment I learned there was a character named Turkish in this movie (by far, the coolest character name I've ever heard), I knew I would think this was an awesome movie--so, from the first line, basically. And this hunch was confirmed by the sequence in which all of the characters are introduced. It's such a slick, stylish movie, and you can tell it's not trying too hard either.
4. The direction, cinematography, and editing. The reason I lumped these three together is because they work so well to complement each other. There are three examples of how well they work together: The diamond heist occurring across the security cameras; the sequence of all the characters being introduced; and the hare coursing scene. Even when I look at any of these scenes individually, I think, "Wow! They're so stylish and well put-together. It's amazing." And it really is. Guy Ritchie is, in my opinion as of now, a f***ing genius.
The only real complaints I can make about SNATCH are that the accents are really, really hard to understand. Although maybe they were made that way to add to the humor, which they certainly do. But I, for one, had to turn on the closed caption if I wanted to understand a bit of what they were saying. Also, there's so much going on and so many characters to keep track of that it can get confusing. I know a couple of details were lost on me, but repeated viewings fix this flaw.
I reserve perfect scores for films that really blow me away, and I don't have a problem giving a perfect score to SNATCH. After watching it, I just sat there shaking my head at how creative and well-done it is. It's an amazing heist movie. 10/10.