Snitch

A disturbingly realistic view of the drug problem in this country is the shocker element that makes SNITCH work so well - the extent of drug cartels on both sides of the borders, the power of the kingpins controlling them, and the current laws about felonious drug dealing - all combine to make this film not just another good guy bad guy film: this is a slice of life as we are living it.

Construction company owner John Matthews Dwayne Johnson) learns that his estranged son, Jason (an impressive Rafi Gavron), has been arrested for drug trafficking. Facing an unjust prison sentence for a first time offender courtesy of mandatory minimum sentence laws, Jason has nothing to offer for leniency in good conscience. Desperately, John convinces the DEA and the opportunistic DA Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) to let him go undercover to help make arrests big enough to free his son in return. With the unwitting help of an ex-con employee Daniel (John Bernthal in a superb performance), John enters the narcotics underworld where every move could be his last in an operation that will demand all his resources, wits and courage to survive.

Ric Roman Waugh wrote (with Justin Haythe) and directed this tightly woven tale and has managed to make a focal point of the problems of divorced families (Melina Kanakaredes is the ex-wife and Nadine Velazquez the current wife) in the care of their offspring. Dwayne Johnson finally has a role that defines his talent and he is supported with a terrific cast (in addition to the actors mentioned above) of Michael K. Williams as the head of the US side cartel, Benjamin Brat as the head of the Mexican cartel, Barry Pepper, JD Pardo, David Harbour, Lela Loren and Harold Perrineau. Yes, there is the requisite car chases and violence, but there is also a study of father/son relationship healing that is equally powerful. The film is much better than expected. Grady Harp, June 13

This film is about a construction company owner who is forced to make a choice when his son got involved in a drug deal.

I thought that the film would be an action packed thriller, as The Rock usually stars in these films. "Snitch" turns out to be an ordinary father who fights for his son's freedom, as there is a law that encourages drug dealers to frame other people to get their sentences reduced. I very much respect the fathers love for his son, that he would do anything to get the son's sentence reduced. He had to cross many lives, deal with international drug barons and risk his life, and that is a moving plot. Though there is not much adrenaline pumping action, this selfless love more than makes up for it. Who would have thought that a seemingly ultra masculine action film would have such a moving element?

I expected this to be a more physical type of movie, more suited to The Rock, but it actually wasn't that at all. He plays the role of a dad caught between two rival gangs: the DEA and a drug cartel. The stakes: get his son out from prison where he pretty much was tricked into entering.

The part that I felt most vividly about was this dirty aspect of the law called Minimum Mandatory Sentencing. A kid receives a package from a friend, filled with MDMA pills and then is caught by the police. The law required that he either rat somebody out or serve a minimum of 10 years in jail. That pretty much is the end of life for an 18 year old kid. I wonder, what if Dwayne Johnson's character would have been a tough muscle guy with a lot of guns? Wouldn't he feel it "mandatory" to kill at least two prosecutors?

The bottom line is that the movie had, beside the obvious thriller action bit, a deeper message about rigid laws that force, nothing more than the threats to your family that a gangster would use. I quite liked the film. The quality of it, though, was more like that of a TV movie. It must have been low budget, or at least it looked like that. Besides some of the names in the cast and the message I was talking about above, it was quite ordinary.

I have never been much of a fan of The Rock. My love of professional wrestling tapered off around the time I was about 15 years old, and that was before The Rock's heydey. His movies (the ones I have seen) have been marginal at best in my opinion. But for a guy who was ushered into the field of acting to capitalize on his popularity and not to win Academy Awards, he has come a long way from The Scorpion King. What I liked about "Snitch" is it's the anti-action movie. I expected a movie like the terrible "Last Stand" starring Ah-nold Schwarzenegger. I expected fabricated car chases and shootouts where the bad guys must be shooting blanks because they are unable to shoot the good guy even when they have a clear shot. I expected scenes where The Rock would beat up 10 guys who all take turns coming at him instead of simply jumping him. But "Snitch" was different. It's a story of the lengths a father will go to help his son. I don't want to give away any spoilers but he goes very far. The Rock -- he's credited as Dwayne Johnson (I guess so viewers take the movie seriously) -- is very believable and does himself proud with some consistent good acting. He shows the trepidation and vulnerability of a father who puts his life on the line to save his son, who is imprisoned after committing a dumb crime. But the actor who steals the movie is John Bernthal, who plays an ex-con trying to live an honest life but is dragged back to the dark side in order to help The Rock, whom he works for doing construction. Michael Kenneth Williams will forever be known as "Omar" and is typecast but does a good turn as a drug dealer. The other supporting cast, including Susan Sarandon as a district attorney, are excellent. "Snitch" moves at a deliberate pace, which gives it more of a natural and believable feel. The few action sequences are good and do not seem overly exaggerated. I will go out on a limb and say this movie will not be nominated for Best Picture, but compared with the junk I've seen so far this year (including the latest Die Hard), I recommend "Snitch".

Snitch is a searing indictment against the current drug laws and the fact that the draconian principles behind them. As we see in this film it forces those ensnared to become police informants on friends to get themselves out of a jackpot. Young Rafi Gavron gets himself in such a jackpot as a friend who does deal drugs sets Gavron up beautifully with enough Ecstasy to guarantee at least 10 years in Federal Penitentiary.

Young Gavron can work his way out of his jackpot, but the problem is that other than the kid who set him up, he doesn't know anyone in the illegal drug trade.

Dwayne Johnson is the kid's father and a working man who owns a construction company. He's divorced from Melina Kanakaredes, Gavron's mother and now he's got a second wife and child. Still he sees US Attorney Susan Sarandon and she's small comfort. She's running for elective office and is looking to get some big drug fish as notches on the prosecutorial gun.

So Johnson volunteers to bring in the big fish himself. Now he offers the use of his trucks to be drug couriers. But Sarandon and DEA agent Barry Pepper keep him in the game hoping for a bigger fish. Soon enough its one of the biggest fishes out there, a veritable whale in Mexican cartel leader Benjamin Bratt.

For action fans Snitch will definitely satisfy you. But also Dwayne Johnson creates a real character not a superhero. He's just an average man who is really putting himself in harm's way for his son.

The film reminds me a lot of both versions of 3:10 To Yuma where Van Heflin and Christian Bale are just citizens pressed into some disagreeable action like Johnson for the forces of law and order. There are also elements of the Robert Mitchum classic The Friends Of Eddie Coyle where Mitchum gets caught in the switches between the law and his criminal pals and is forced into the role of informer. The difference is that Mitchum is a petty crook and Johnson's a stand-up guy.

Susan Sarandon will chill you no end as the ambitious US Attorney who knows these laws are foul, but will use them for her own purposes. Also Barry Pepper as the law enforcement professional has some qualms and conscience. But even he's looking for the big bust and is willing to put Johnson on the line for it.

Snitch deals with the federal drug laws, but here in New York we pioneered that with the draconian Rockefeller drug laws. The sooner they're repealed the better, but we have to get through to some politicians who parade their law and order credentials by sponsoring such things.

This is a film both entertaining and informative and a real triumph for Dwayne Johnson.