Actually, there shouldn’t be much guilt in liking Guy Ritchie’s Snatch. The original New York Times movie review spoke fairly favorably of the film and it was a Critic’s Pick. However, Ebert was a bit down on the film thinking it a tad too similar to Ritchie’s previous Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Maybe it’s Ritchie’s marital association with Madonna that engenders the guilt.
Snatch is a fairly comedic, frenetic gangster romp, set mainly in England. A garish cast of dumb thugs conveniently run into each other repeatedly across multiple plot threads. Ritchie’s hyperkinetic editing style keeps things moving. Some highlights:
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Brad Pitt playing a well-nigh incomprehensible Irish Gypsy boxer.
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Character names like: Brick Top, Turkish, Franky Four Fingers, Bullet Tooth Tony, and Boris “The Blade”
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Tyrone as not the most nimble, of mind or of foot, getaway driver.
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Jason Statham’s typical cool machismo. He’s not completely monotone in this one, exhibiting a bit of comedic timing.
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Benicio Del Toro masquerading as a Hasidic Jew to rob an Antwerp diamond broker. Vere is da stoooone?.
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Nicola and Teena Collins as easy on the eyes twin daughters of Doug “The Head”, a wannabe Jewish diamond dealer.
What clinched Snatch as a keeper for me was when Cousin Avi, Dennis Farina, responded to the customs officer’s “Anything to declare?” with “Yeah. Don’t go to England”.