Stealing On and Off Screen

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2001)

Greetings again from the darkness. Madonna's hubby is no dummy. He steals from the best. The influence of Tarantino is obvious, but in "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" I see a great deal of Scorcese as well. When you learn from these two and throw in a twisted, darkly comical screenplay and amazing acting from the ensemble cast, Guy Ritchie provides us with this years best guilty pleasure! I found myself alterately laughing and squirming with the unique mix of violence and a remarkably high number of scenes where at least one character is asking himself, "What am I doing here?". Alan Ford steals his scenes as Brick Top - a perfect name for such a charming guy. Brad Pitt turns in a beautiful performance as a character right out of the Paul Bunyon school of Tall Tales. Although brief in screen time, Benicio Del Toro again shows why he is well on his way to stardom. I just hope he continues to be very selective on his roles and doesn't turn in to Kevin Bacon, god forbid. No real tidbit on this other than make sure to enjoy the dialogue. It is, for the most part, easily understood if one concentrates. I did not find it to be a distraction, and I am from TEXAS! Looking forward to more from Guy Ritchie, but I do hope he learns to minimize the visual distractions (clever camera work) to the point that it does not interfere with the story.