Snatch
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
United Kingdom/United States, 2000
Running Length: 1:44
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity, brief nudity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones, Brad Pitt, Rade
Serbedzija,
Jason Statham, Alan Ford, Mike Reid, Jason
Flemyng,
Stephen Graham
Director: Guy Ritchie
Producer: Matthew Vaughn
Screenplay: Guy Ritchie
Cinematography: Tim Maurice-Jones
Music: John Murphy
U.S. Distributor: Screen Gems
As his career develops, it may turn out that British maverick filmmaker Guy Ritchie has only the taste and talent to make one
kind of film - but, if every salvo he fires is as snappy, funny, and energized as his initial two movies (Lock, Stock and Two
Smoking Barrels and Snatch), does that kind of limitation really matter? After all, not every director has to be like Martin
Scorsese and dabble in costume dramas and would-be epics about religious figures. As long as Ritchie avoids overexposure,
he could have a nice future ahead of him making twisted caper pictures like this one.
On a certain level, one could almost consider Snatch to be a big-budget remake of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
The names and specifics have changed, but the structure - the earlier movie's most obvious asset - has remained largely the
same. Like Robert Rodriguez with his transformation of El Mariachi into Desperado, Ritchie has used the extra money to
hire a few big name stars and to make the final product look more polished, but his overall approach has not changed. The
story follows the same post-Tarantino formula that mixes criss-crossing storylines, copious violence, witty dialogue, and
laugh-aloud black comedy.