Snatch: Schweine und Diamanten

Guy Richie's follow up to Lock Stock and Two Smoking barrels is every bit as astonishing as its predecessor. The humour is better and I have never seen people in a cinema laugh as loud and as frequently as they did here. Vinnie Jones plays a similar role as Big Chris, here as Bullet Tooth Tony. His appearance is limited but boy does he make an impact. Even when he is not on screen there is much to savour from Dennis Farina as Avi and a trio of pawnbrokers who are sent to rob a bookies. Brad Pitt sheds his movie start personna and preforms impressively as an Irish gypsie. Unlike Lock Stock.. the humour will appeal to all nationalities. However they mind some slang expressions such as Pikey and blag hard to understand. Good preformances, fantastic characters, razor sharp diologue, expert direction and camera work and brilliant humour, Snatch will make you laugh more than any other movie this year. See it now.

The release of Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" in 1994 prompted a schism in the staid gangster movie genre: the standard hallmarks - serious characters, gunfights, intrigue and damsels in distress - were enhanced with snappy dialogue, and gallows humour. The biggest change however was the introduction of the mobius strip-style plot line, where the concept of time is no longer linear, instead constantly folding in upon itself, flitting between past, present and future that forces the viewer to pay close attention lest they miss some subtle detail. Inevitably, numerous copycat films emerged that tried to capitalize on Tarantino's success, but it wasn't until 1998 when Guy Ritchie, an unknown British director, took on the challenge that a successor was found. Now Ritchie is determined to prove that his first time out wasn't a fluke.

Turkish is a young man with an entrepreneurial bent, who, when he's not running his gambling operation, manages bareknuckle boxers. Through a business deal gone wrong, he becomes acquainted with one Mickey O'Neil, a mumbling manic motor-mouthed piker who also happens to be a one-punch marvel. Turkish persuades Mickey to join his stable of fighters, but soon discovers that Mickey has his own agenda, and gets Turkish in trouble with the gangsters who run the underground boxing circuit. Other characters that become involved in the drama include a four-fingered degenerate gambler/jewel thief, a vicious boxing promoter, a gang of inept robbers, a polite hitman, a crazed Russian gun runner, a group of Irish gypsies, a crooked New York jeweler and a pugnacious pet. The common thread binding them all is a perfect diamond the size of a peach pit. If you aren't confused yet, you soon will be.

"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", Mr. Madonna's (Ritchie) first film, was shot on a small budget, with a no-name cast (except for football bad boy Vinnie Jones) and quickly became a rousing success at home and found receptive audiences abroad. While not a technically a sequel "Snatch" is stylistically very similar to "Lock, Stock…": Ritchie utilizes his trademark bombastic staccato sequences, and repeatedly bounces off on radical tangents to throw the viewer off balance. He did however opt for a decidedly darker satirical tone in this film, that may make some people uncomfortable (think "Very Bad Things"). What struck me as particularly daring was his decision to create a story with such a voluminous cast.

Ritchie faced a daunting task with this film: how, with roughly twenty principal characters, does one adequately flesh out each character, and not hopelessly confuse the audience? The feat was made doubly difficult, as several cast members are big name stars. Somehow Ritchie manages - each actor is full bodied, receives ample screen time, and no one character is the centerpiece. With so many talented actors, it is difficult to pick out one performance that stands out: Rade Serbedzija is hilarious as the mad Russian who blithely burns through each of his nine lives, as is Vinnie Jones' manic gentleman hitman. On the other end of the spectrum, is Alan Ford as Brick Top, the promoter with a penchant for pigs, who epitomizes cold-blooded viciousness. If forced to pick my favorite however, I would have to go with Brad Pitt

Pitt resurrects his trailer trash look from "Kalifornia" and adopts a nearly indecipherable brogue that sounds like my best friend's Uncle Wally on a bad day. As Mickey O'Neil, the hard drinking wily grifter and part-time pugilist, Pitt displays a wide range of emotions, demonstrating again that he is not only a star, but also a gifted character actor. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the dog that subtly stole every scene he appeared in.

While "Snatch" initially struggles to find its stride, and is very similar to Ritchie's earlier film, it is fresh and funny enough to make you forget any minor shortfalls and stand on its own.

This movie is perfect in all its categories: credits, sound track, production, casting, writing, photography, editing, acting, and direction. 10/10.

I was amazed with the freedom of the use of the camera. This movie will change the way movies are made. Slow-mo, stills, black and white, and color were all used to brilliant effect.

I must pick out specific actors who were just over the top - meaning 10+!

Jason Statham as "Turkish" is simply superb - a star of very high caliber. (You should see him in anything he made, and read my comment about John Carpenter's movie: "Ghosts of Mars.")

Alan Ford as "Brick Top" is terrifying - his forced speaking style made me think that he was chewing on the flesh of his previous victim.

Vinnie Jones as "Bullet Tooth Tony" is total tough head to foot tough - a walking brick wall - a marine for all seasons - none tougher.

Brad Pitt as "Mickey O'Neil" is utterly 110% convincing. I never liked Mr. Pitt's work before this - but this one totally sold me - he is as solid an actor as ever came out of Hollywood... and better!

Finally, Guy Ritchie should be recognized as a Michelangelo of film.

-LD

I am a 33 year old woman in a flowered dress who doesn't drink, rarely swears, sleeps with a teddy bear, and has never raised a hand to anyone in my life. But I liked this movie a lot, and according to someone who wrote a review earlier, that makes me personally responsible for the violence in America. I'm sorry - I never intended to hurt anyone.

As for the movie - I usually get confused in fast-paced movies with so many characters, but when I watched Snatch I was able to keep all the characters straight pretty easily because each one had something unique and quirky about him. I liked that, and I liked the accents, and I liked the silly plot-twist humor, and I liked the dogs. The evil men were EVIL ("so evil you would call it the froo-its of the dev-eel" to quote Mike Meyers). The bumbling men were endearing. The music was great.

It was very violent (more so than Pulp Fiction, I think). Yet somehow it did not offend me and looking back at it I still laugh out loud.

Oh, and I never saw "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels", for whatever that's worth.

Imagine what would happen if you took 8 or 10 criminals of various professions, threw them into a maze, gave one of the criminals a diamond the size of a fist, and yelled out load, "SOMEONE IN THIS MAZE HAS A HUGE DIAMOND! WHOEVER FINDS IT AND IS THE LAST MAN STANDING, WINS!" What do you think would happen? Snatch is what happens.

Snatch is a confusing, twisting, crazy movie. Let me repeat that. This movie is crazy! Imagine the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney Word on acid, and this is what you get my friend. Believe it or not, this mass confusion and complete insanity is very, very entertaining.

The movie has it's problems. First off, for those of you who have seen Snatch's predecessor, (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), you know that Guy Richie (the writer and director of both films) has a very music-video style as far as the camera angles, movements, and cinematography goes. The strange camera techniques get so mad with lunacy that I noticed people walking out of the theater. I was also turned off by this madness. However, most of this insane crap gets over within the first hour, so it doesn't last.

If any of you people out there loved Lock Stock as much as I did, do yourself a favor and see this movie as fast as you can. Snatch is a bit more serious than Lock Stock, but when it's funny, you'll laugh till your lungs burst. It was nice to see Vinnie Jones, who was Big Chris in the last movie, return as the same basic character (only now named Bullet Tooth Tony) and doing the same "slamming victim's head in a car door" act again. The performances were just as great as Lock Stock, with Jason Statham and Pitt leading the pack. I was disappointed to see that Bendicio Del Toro didn't have a bigger role. I was expecting him to be a lead character, but he's not.

So, in conclusion, if you have never seen Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, I would see that first before seeing Snatch so you can get adjusted to Guy Richie's style. I still think that it is stupid to compare either two movies to Pulp Fiction (unlike most people), but it is in the same ballpark as Pulp. That means if you liked Pulp, you will most likely like Snatch and Lock, Stock. If you have never seen Pulp or Lock Stock, you have deprived your life of culture.

9/10