Snatch - Lo strappo

"Snatch" is fantastic; and not least because it demonstrates emphatically that the British movie industry is capable of rivaling even the best of what Hollywood can offer.

"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" was one of the funniest movies released in recent years, and "Snatch" takes everything that "Lock, Stock..." did so well and does it even better.

Back are the cleverly intertwined plotlines, the hilarious one-liners, and the simultaneously intimidating and comedic London villains. So is the skillful editing, and often original cinematographic style. This time however, it all looks somewhat slicker and better funded, and alongside the British regulars are the odd American celebrity (Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro).

Everyone in the film puts in an excellent performance, but Pitt stands out as a charismatic and near-incomprehensible Gypsy boxer.

Like Ritchie's earlier film, this one takes a little while to find its feet, but once it does the pace doesn't slacken until the finale. One scene featuring three guys and a squeaking dog in a stolen car stands out particularly, and left the audience at my local cinema almost weeping as punchline after punchline was uttered.

When it comes to comedies, I cannot recommend this one highly enough. If you're after a good laugh, you won't find much to better "Snatch".

I was never really too keen on "Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels". All my friends constantly quoted it, raved and ranted, and then when "Snatch" came out, everyone made an even bigger deal of that. I watched Lock Stock, and though I did like it, it didn't really tickle my fancy. But Snatch, that's a completely different story all together.

When I saw Snatch at the cinemas, I was shocked to see a couple leave only fifteen minutes into the film. As they left, you could hear their intellectually deficient comments; "this movie is so boring". I couldn't believe it! I'd recommend this movie to ANYONE, The Pope even!

There are hundreds of thousands of reasons for anyone to see this movie; each word of the script being a reason.

Snatch is possibly one of THE best written movies I've seen. It's smart, witty, funny and has just the right touches of dark humour. With characters like Turkish, Mickey, Tommy, Brick Top, Bullet Tooth Tony and Cousin Avi; their witty repartee will have your personal quotes list full for months after watching it. The camera work and editing complement each other to keep the film's pace on its toes, much like the boxers at the center of the character's stories.

Jason Statham has some of THE best lines in the movie, constantly slamming anything even slightly intelligent his partner Tommy has to say. Brad Pitt turns out an excellent performance as the Irish-Gypsy-Pykie Mickey; his accent is hilarious.

Even though the story line is only a simple one (following a massive Diamond through England's criminal underworld), it is the connections each character has to the diamond and each other that really makes this film stand out from all the usual jewel-heist films.

Another 10 / 10 from me on this one, it's just a pity the follow up to Snatch was a "collaborative effort" from Mr. Richie and his um.......wife.

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.

Read this review carefully, please.

First off, Snatch is an amazing movie in every sense of the word. There are very few movies made where the director obviously did not let one FRAME onto the screen without a reason, and Snatch is one of them. Nothing happens onscreen without it having an effect on the plot.

By now you know the plot, or plots. We follow a diamond-heist and the various characters trying to get theirs, at the same time following participants in an illegal boxing ring. The incredible part of the movie is how every scene ties in with the rest somehow, every character connects with the rest at least once.

There are complaints that the movie is confusing, or muddled. There are a lot of things that they don't tell you (such as what the dog has to do with anything, but he's a VERY important character), and that's a good thing. Too many movies force feed the audience its plot points (Think The Ring vs. Ringu, did we need the "How long could you survive down there all alone?" line?). Rather, we just watch occurrences, and have to piece together what ties everything together, the plot weaves together beautifully.

The cinematography and performances are fantastic as well. Even the soundtrack is perfect. The camera style during the fight scenes (slowdown/stop/go) makes it difficult to stop watching, the sound effects fit in quietly in the background without being overwhelming. And it will be IMPOSSIBLE to watch this movie without repeating many of the lines around your friends. I found myself saying "Zee Germans" and things like "It's not like he's a set of car keys, now is it?" quite a bit. Naturally, Brad Pitt's pikey is one of the most outlandish I've ever seen.

Summary: watch the movie, and don't expect to be TOLD everything, expect to have to pay attention.

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