What do unlicensed boxing promoters, pig-feeding gangsters, diamond thieves, unkillable ex-KGB operatives, gypsies, and shady pawnbrokers have in common?

Rating: 10/10 (27 October 2002)

The answer to this riddle is found in about two hours of the most brilliantly comical moviemaking since.....well, actually, I can't think of anything at the moment that compares.
The trailers for this movie never got me interested enough to actually get off my duff and get to the theater to see it on the big screen. The downside is that I almost missed seeing one of the funniest movies I have ever seen in my life. The upside is that when my wife rented it on a whim, we could pause it when we were laughing so hard we could hardly breathe. We ended up buying it on VHS and then again when we got DVD...and we simply don't buy movies. Ain't generally worth it...but this one is.
That said, Snatch isn't for everybody. For one thing, there's enough coarse language to crisp the ears of any easily offended person who gets within hearing distance. It's also very fast paced, laced with a patchwork of dialects and accents that aren't always easy to understand (which is kinda the point, actually), and requires the audience to actually pay attention. It's this last requirement that loses the most fans, I would guess, given the ridiculous popularity of mindless drivel starring "actors" like friggin' Britney Spears, fer cryin' out loud.
Suffice it to say that if you appreciate irony, cynical humor, black comedy, and well written, well acted character drama more than special effects, gimmicks, gratuitous nudity (not that I'm knocking gratuitous nudity), stupid stunts and all the other pap Hollywood is cookie-cutter stamping out these days, then you'll love Snatch. Otherwise, go watch just about anything Brian De Palma ever put out.