Style without substance

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2002)

A Diamond heist by Franky Four Fingers is carried out and he flies into London on a stop over. He goes to Boris The Blade for a gun and Boris tells him to go to the bookies for him and put money on a fight in exchange. Boris then sets Frankie up and has a group of men waiting to rob the bookies and Frankie. The fight in question is also difficult because promoters Turkish and Tommy have promised local villain Brick Top that they'll put up a fighter. Said fighter is put in hospital by a gypsy Tommy buys a caravan from (Mickey). Putting Mickey in the fight makes things worse when he not only refuses to take a dive but knocks the fighter out  to Bricktop's displeasure! Meanwhile Frankie's boss flies into London to find him and the jewel while Bricktop tries to catch the men who Boris sent to knock over his bookies.
I had seen Lock, Stock and enjoyed it to a certain degree. It had problems but it was fresh and had energy and style. It re-launched the British gangster film with some good ones and some bad copies. One of those copies was Snatch  admittedly a copy by the same director! This film has all the style and energy of the Lock, Stock and borrows heavily from it. However it is clear that the plot is both weak and over-plotted (if that's possible!). It is weak because it is so full of cliché and silly occurrences and it is over-plotted in that every scene needs more plot in order to explain the new thing that just happened!
What keeps it watchable is Ritchie's style and energy. The plot may not work but it moves along with pace that almost (almost) covers it's lack of substance. So we get the same old cockney gangsterisms, dark humour, Vinnie Jones being tough with a few good lines and so on. It felt to me like Ritchie just didn't have any other ideas in him. It's all very samey but his style saves it as he intercuts and delivers some really inventive shots. In tune with this style and energy is the casting. The film is much better cast that it deserves!
Statham and Graham are the least colourful characters in the piece and Ritchie knows it  so despite being the leads, they often play second fiddle and only act as the catalyst. Ford, Reid, Jones et al all enjoy delivering tough old stereotypes and do well enough considering what they're there to do. Pitt is a great bit of casting  and here he is DELIBERATELY doing a bad Irish accent (unlike Devil's Own where it was an accident!). He is funny and seems to enjoy playing out of type. Likewise Del Toro and Farina can only help add class to the film.
Overall though this is a victory for style over substance. It's visual style and general energy will carry it for the running time but when it was over I found it had failed to make any lasting impact on it and I really could remember very little of it  it had just seemed noisy and in a rush to get somewhere. Sure, I enjoyed it while it was on, but as little as 10 minutes afterwards I realised that I'd been taken for a ride by the style and flair of Ritchie. At time of writing it is 199 in the top 250  you gotta be kidding me!