Blags, slags, lags and gags

Rating: 9/10 (28 August 2000)

Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was one of the most popular British films of all time and spawned a plethora of London gangster movies - all of them far inferior to their inspirer. (And yes, I'm including Gangster No. 1 in that.) This has raised expectations for Guy Ritchie's Snatch inordinately. And it doesn't disappoint. In fact it's probably an improvement.
However this is not a radical departure, in fact you get exactly the same elements but with a completely different story. So expect witty realistic dialogue, awesome cinematography, clever plotting, cool art direction, flash direction, dark humour. And violence. Lots of it.
The film centres on Turkish about to do a deal and he narrates the flashback to how he got there. But just like Lock, Stock it isn't a simple journey. The breakneck pace and intricate plotting leaves little room for more than sketchy characterisation but that isn't a problem because at the very least you know the motivations for every single character and you believe them. One can only admire the juggling act required to keep so many characters and plots going and not drop a ball. Guy Ritchie the brilliant screenwriter too often gets subsumed into Guy Ritchie the brilliant director.

However let's get back to the violence. Ritchie has been quoted as saying "I disapprove of violence" which is a touch disingenuous. To be honest there were one or two points in the film where I felt a little uneasy. It is the similar difficult balancing act which Lock, Stock - the film and the television series - tried to achieve where violence is both cartoon-like and realistic and it isn't always successful. But the unease wasn't enough to stop me being swept along by the story.
While Brad Pitt and Vinnie Jones will be the actors most talked about, this is very much an ensemble piece - every actor does an excellent job and should not be overlooked.
In conclusion Snatch doesn't break new ground but it treads over old ground in a fresh, entertaining way. And hopefully this will put an end to the London gangster movie for a while and not launch lots of crap imitations again.