Guy has obviously a passion for these fast and energetic films, so don't expect any different from him, the question really is, are they really any good?

Rating: 6/10 (13 March 2003)

Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch, are almost completely identical films, (except maybe in the lengths of the titles) but they use the same narrative styles, storylines, themes and even characters. Guy has obviously a passion for these fast and energetic films, so don't expect any different from him, the question really is, are they really any good?
The film 'Snatch' is based around a group of London's underground gangsters, criminals and mobs. Three individual storylines meet and part, only to meet again, and then part again, combined with excessively fast cuts and sequences this makes the storyline difficult to digest for the average audience member the first time round. These set of gangsters; however all are in it for the same thing, in some way or another, a diamond which is a big as a small fist. These are also linked to a group of sub-plots which weave into the storylines of the different groups in the movie. Creating a well defined storyline, although this for most of the film will leave the audience slightly disorientated. Of course because of films Black comic nature, half the characters are the same way.
The editing style used in Snatch ranges from incredibly fast cuts and sequences, to slow and long dialogue's between characters, including a long monologue of the 'usefulness' of a pig's digestive system. Just because the film is in English, doesn't mean that we have gotten over the language barrier with international film yet, while the accent is much more understandable there are some characters who it seems even other characters can't even understand, an example being Mickey (Brad Pitt) who speaks in his own dialect only few have mastered. Overall the storyline is complicated to a degree that it makes the film unpredictable yet still understandable (well, maybe on the second viewing)
The script is an interesting component of the movie as it creates some interesting characters, Avi (Dennis Farina), an American business man being only one example. However the storyline seems to cut in and out of storylines, characters and times too quickly, the beginning of the movie seems to introduce the characters too quickly then dumps you into the middle of the story. It takes some time for the audience to catch up with each of the groups within the story and figure out how each are related. By the end of the film the audience has just got to know the characters, and aren't really concerned for them by the time they make their 'exit,' let alone relate to any of them, although this would be an impossible task for any realistic person anyway. The characters are interesting and dynamic, but when it comes down to it not real and believable. However I agree with Roger Ebert in that: `.no movie can be all bad that contains the following dialogue:
U.S. Customs official: 'Anything to declare?' Avi (Dennis Farina): 'Yeah. Don't go to England.' Roger Ebert (See Bibliography)

Guy Ritchie's 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' follows a similar formula so those who enjoyed 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' will most likely enjoy Snatch. However I feel this film was let down by an undeveloped and erratic plot. Ben Waugh