Snatch
(2000)
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 Hour and 42 Minutes
Reviewer: Dale
Grade: BEven if I hadn't liked "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (which I most certainly did) I would probably want to see a movie with a title as provocative as "Snatch". Thankfully for me, the movie is actually pretty damn fun.
Much like "Lock, Stock" and so forth, "Snatch" concerns a motley group of thieves, cutthroats, murderers and other general lowlives who converge and bounce off one another like pieces of a pinball machine due to the absurdly daring manipulations of a plot that is built as precisely as a Swiss watch. This time, the plot concerns a diamond "the size of a baby's fist". At the beginning of the film, the gem is snatched (Hence the title) by four rabbis after they discuss Adam and Eve and the Birth of Christ in an elevator. One of these rabbis is Freddy Four Fingers (the increasingly amusing Benicio Del Toro). Freddy is sent to London to fence the diamond to a Jewish jeweler. Unfortunately, there are several others who want to get their hands on the pilfered item. Among this rogue's gallery of colorful characters are a boxing promoter named Turkish (Jason Statham), an ex-KGB assassin named Boris the Blade (Rade Serbedzija), a local crime boss named Brick Top (Alan Ford, looking creepily like Albert Finney, so much so that I thought he WAS Albert Finney), three black men, a dog, an American named Cousin Avi (Dennis Farina, always a pleasure), some gypsies and Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones). A potpourri of mishaps, botched murders, car accidents, accidental swallowings, illegal bare-knuckle boxing matches, and discussions about male genitalia ensues.
First off, I must say that I enjoyed the absurd level of dark humor that is employed in this movie. More than one joke involves a murder or, at least, a humorous maiming. If this doesn't sound like your cup of tea, then steer clear. However, if you think that far too many comedies these days wuss out and go for laughs involving a small child or a romantic situation, then this might just be the cup of tea that you are searching for. As in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" the humor in this movie is found in delightful and often sick situations that play like Tarantino crossed with Monty Python. Though it must be noted that the whole attitude was better played in "Lock, Stock". The whole Swiss clock efficiency of the first film's plot is not as fully evidenced this time. The movie feels about twenty minutes too long and many of the situations seem rather contrived. In "Lock, Stock", the joy was in seeing how the whole thing played out, and it played out much more cleverly. But, that being said, the movie still provides a great deal of blackly rambunctious fun.
The high points? There are a couple of characters that put a smile on my face whenever they showed up in the film. The first was Boris the Blade. Rade Serbedzija has had small roles in a few other movies: he was the slimy costume shop proprietor in "Eyes Wide Shut" and the doctor who gets killed at the beginning of "Mission: Impossible 2". But this time, the Russkie gets a chance to shine in a fairly major role and he is a pleasure. This time, he plays a no-nonsense Russian agent who seems impossible to kill. Another joy is Dennis Farina as the American Avi. His reactions to these dire situations is very, very funny. I also love Vinnie Jones as Bullet Tooth Tony. Vinnie is a force of nature, always a brutal man but always playing his role with a twinkle in the eye. I have never seen anyone who can pull off this balance of ruthlessness and likeability, of humor and toughness all at the same time in every movie he does. He was the bright spot of the new "Gone in Sixty Seconds" and one of the best things in "Lock, Stock" and he is a wonder to behold here as well. I also loved Benicio, as always, as a man with a rather hilarious gambling problem. My only qualm with Benicio is that he was gone far too quickly. I had the feeling that his character was developing into something really funny and then he's gone.
But no matter. The film is still a great deal of fun, even if it's main character is a little less interesting than the others (truthfully, how can a fairly normal guy stand out among guys with names like Boris the Blade) and the plot has maybe one or two many contrivances in it. But just for the scene involving the hungry dog and the humongous getaway driver it must be seen. Not to mention the scene where Boris is in the middle of the street with a tea cozy on his head and....No, I've said too much.