Fun crime flick

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2012)

IMDb Top 250: 129
Do you like Goodfellas? Pulp Fiction or The Usual Suspects? Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels? If you said yes to any of these films, you will like Snatch.
Snatch is about diamond heists and boxing, and robberies, and swearing. The plots are lightening quick, back and forth, tying into each other with events and characters. The overall story isn't the strong narrative, but it sets ups the reals draw: a cornucopia of characters.
You've got Turkish & Tommy, boxing promoters, and their fighter Gorgeous George. There's Franky Four Fingers, a gambling robber, as well as Doug the Head and his cousin Avi. We've got Bullet Tooth Tony, and the sinister Brick Top. There's robbers with their driver Tyrone, and a great group of Irish gypsies (pikeys), headed by Mickey, an indecipherable Brad Pitt. And there's more. The whole spectrum is here, some see more screen time than others, some deserve more time, others less. If your cup of tea is a massive roster of criminals yelling at each other, Snatch may be your favourite thing ever.
So the plot is a nonsensical modern British noir, the dialogue is fast, furious and hilarious, the pace is constantly running, and Brad Pitt is great. What could be wrong? Not much, except that if you've seen the films I mentioned at the beginning, you may get the 'been there, seen that' feel. Snatch is a great film that takes great ideas and puts them together in one place. Some may overlook this more than others, but I could not. I haven't even seen 'Lock, Stock', this films' precursor, and it feels worn in. and It's ultimately derivative, and not even the British flair and Mickey the Pikey could make it unique.
Also, the broad range of characters and stories does lead to a loose structure and a 'go with it' style plot. It's all crammed into a 1 hour 40 minute film, so pacing took priority over fleshing out, but that's a personal gripe.
Snatch is a fun and funny movie with lots of style, but not all of that style is its own. If that doesn't bug you, you'll love Snatch. 8.3/10