An energetically eclectic, hyperactive yet occasionally unfocused comedy of errors.

Rating: 7/10 (8 March 2018)

'Snatch (2000)' is an energetically eclectic, hyperactive yet occasionally unfocused comedy of errors in which whatever could go wrong does go wrong. It's a series of eventually intertwining parallel stories each centred around a stolen stone which feature a cast of colourful, mostly inept characters with slightly weird names and a mainly cockney lilt (aside from the Russian, the American and the sort-of-but-not-really Irish thing that Brad Pitt tries to do). It deals in stereotypes and the comedy is pretty broad, but the film isn't so much funny as it is exhaustively coincidental in a strangely compelling way, with the usually dumb-as-bricks characters making a major mistake only to run into someone (sometimes literally) who then fixes that mistake or changes their path entirely. It's not so much a straightforward narrative as one that keeps you guessing as to where it's going to go while simultaneously not mattering at all, as it's the individual situations themselves that entertain. The fact it all ties together in the end is, strangely, kind of a bonus. 7/10