Thrilling crime drama that does Britain justice

Rating: 9/10 (11 March 2009)

Thugs, smugglers, thieves and Gypsies all become involved in a diamond smuggling case.
British cinema. Sharp, issue driven and entertaining. Fact. So how does Snatch rank compared to all the greats surrounding it? Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Italian Job, Kidulthood and the Bond franchise are all memorable British crime hits that tell crime as it is with that cutting edge representation of the difficult British culture. Snatch is arguably one of the finest Brit Crime films eve created and with some thrilling performances and direction, it can sit highly among the British kings of cinema.
Guy Ritchie takes that sharp format of dangerous gangster life and puts a riveting spin on it with some flowing and surprising direction. The opening montage with Jason Statham's narration is excellent as the camera zooms all over the scene and changes on a consistent basis without the viewer knowing what is really going on, which makes it almost humorous. Very artistic and almost simple, the direction is a consistent device that is properly used to tell a sharp story about diamond smuggling.
Encoded with too many characters to count, Snatch gives an intellectual look upon the British underground business. Written by Ritchie, we see his thoughts acclimate through diamond smuggling, unnoticeable boxing matches and a bizarre concept of murder (you will never look at pigs the same again). British cinema is all about issues as American cinema often shies away from being too in your face whereas Brits don't care and just do it, which is exactly what you want. Despite these heavy concepts of real life, this 2000 hit is often funny. Black comedy is often a questionable device in crime cinema particularly when it doesn't work (such as in Kidulthood) but all hail Ritchie who hits it spot on.
Plenty of blood, plenty of swearing this is a proper gangster film which isn't quite as sharp and understandable as Pulp Fiction but contains enough entertainment to be looked at in the same way.
Good performances all round particularly by Brad Pitt who seems to be able to play anything or anyone.
Snatch is all about the complicated story and where it isn't too clear as to what happens come the conclusion, it is evident that when you re-watch it again and again, you will always pick up more laughs, more thrills and learn something new.