Guy Ritchie’s new film “Snatch” is a great example of the classical farce, featuring confusing and complicated subplots that eventually converge, giving an unexpected ending.
The film revolves around a stolen 84 carat diamond, inept petty thieves, illegal boxing matches and a gypsy trailer camp.
Frankie Four Fingers, played by Benicio Del Toro, steals the huge stone for his American boss Avi (Dennis Farnia). Frankie stops in London to unload some smaller diamonds to Avi’s cousin, Doug the Head (Mike Reid), but first has a meeting with Russian hard case Boris “The Blade” (Rade Sherbedgia).
Knowing Frankie’s taste for gambling, Boris cons him into placing bets in an illegal boxing match. Boris then puts thieves on Frankie to get him the diamond.
Promoting the fight is Turkish (Jason Statham), who agrees to throw the fight for Brick Top (Alan Ford), a notorious tough guy and local crime lord.
Turkish’s fighter is hospitalized after a gypsy (Pikey) boxing match, forcing him to find a replacement. On such short notice, Turkish is forced to employ Mickey O’Neil (Brad Pitt), the gypsy who knocked out his fighter. Mickey wins the fight, and it just gets worse from there.
The film has potential to be one of the year1s best, a title which it well deserves. Featuring superb acting, wonderful characterization and spinning, swirling plots, “Snatch” has something that the average film just can’t muster: Quality. The shear stupidity of Boris1s hired thieves and the fast-talking, mush-mouthed “Pikeys” deliver laughs in nearly every scene.
The film is indicative of Ritchie, for those of you who have seen his earlier film, “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” Ritchie’s cinematography is superb, adding a beautiful visual element to the story. Ritchie’s use of actors who are mostly unknown in America (barring Pitt) also serves to better draw the audience in, getting them tangled in the plot.
Even Pitt himself dissolves in the film. His Pikey accent is tough for the Englishmen in the film and nearly indiscernible for the rest of us. Pitt does a good job in his role, proving that he is one of the few big name actors who can be convincing in a variety of different roles.
On the down side, a few of the “twists” were not that surprising, even predictable. Although some things seemed inevitable, there was still enough ambiguity to keep the audience involved in the plot. The film is also very stylized, a factor that makes it a great piece of visual entertainment, but something that may not appeal to the masses.
There is also the similarity factor it shares with “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” This also made some of the plot twists more obvious, but again, not to the point of complete predictability. Ritchie has to avoid the Tarantino syndrome and stay fresh with his plot lines and direction. This shouldn’t be a problem for Ritchie, as he is one of the most talented new directors in film these days. His shots and style are striking enough to surprise and satisfy, while not growing redundant. Ritchie needs to be sure and take the time to produce his films properly, and not rush into production under the heat of Hollywood.
As a whole, “Snatch” is still a wonderful film. With the status of comedy lately, this film is the proverbial “must-see” feature this winter. Hollywood drivel got you down? “Snatch” is the answer.
