Better than Pulp Fiction?

Rating: 10/10 (16 February 2001)

Okay, Snatch may not be better than Pulp Fiction, that's like saying `bigger than Jesus.' But Snatch was a pretty big surprise that kind of came out of nowhere. Besides the first rate performances, this film had some incredibly innovative photography (second only to The Matrix?), as well as some brilliant editing techniques. Some of the editing was so fast and so surprising that it's actually funny (the plane-flight sequences, for example).
I normally don't like it when well known actors take on roles involving false accents, and I was actually slightly disappointed when I realized that Brad Pitt's would be this type of role. But as the movie progressed, the fake accent oddly became less and less noticeable, and by the end it had actually become one of the better parts of Pitt's performance in this film. The character that he played (`One Punch' Mickey) possessed some distinct similarities to Tyler, the character that he played in Fight Club, but was a bit more redneck and less into associating with the outside world. This was a great character, too, especially coming right from Fight Club. That first fight scene was awesome, and as soon as he throws that first punch, you just want to see more. Maybe the fight scenes were a little exaggerated occasionally, but they were just so much fun to watch.

(spoilers) Unfortunately, I have to admit that I was and am still deeply disappointed by the quick departure of Franky Four Fingers, because Benecio Del Toro stood a good chance of being one of the best actors in the film (he definitely achieved that status in The Way of the Gun). Luckily, the rest of this film was so good that it overshadowed this bad choice of characterization. The presentation of the film (of several different story lines all finally converging at the end) is not exactly original, but at least it is utilized very effectively here. Besides that, the movie is full of the obligatory one-liners, but strangely enough, they were able to come up with one after another of these and they were all good, none of that crap that you see coming from Arnie or Van Damme or Seagal.
Snatch is a British action comedy in the tradition of Trainspotting (sort of) and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and it is a very well thought out and put together movie. It has countless respectable characteristics, such as the different but very good performances, the excellent directing and editing, as well as a charming title (!!). Don't be put off by the fact that the charming title makes it sound like a low budget porno, this is just an excellent action/crime film.