Diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the right lung on my 58th birthday (14th July) So not really ...
Diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the right lung on my 58th birthday (14th July) So not really in the humour for writing much at the moment, although I *WILL* be back before too long...Ken
Member since:06.12.2000
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~ ~ Ever since I watched the first movie in the “British Gangster” mould, “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”, by director Guy Ritchie, I have been waiting in anticipation for his follow up offering. “Snatch” (2001) is that second offering, and while it unquestionably leans heavily on the style of his first movie, it is, none the less, a full-throttle comedy crime caper in its own right. Snatch takes a motley crew of eccentric and larger than life characters and tosses them into a mixer, which ends up producing a film full of danger, double-cross, and dark comedy, and, off course, a dog. (more on the woofer later)
~ ~ Our hero, if he can indeed be called such, is a villain by the name of “Turkish”, (Jason Statham) whose main business ventures are illegal slot machines and promoting unlicensed, bare knuckle boxing matches. His business partner, right hand man, and best friend is another extremely dodgy character by the name of “Tommy” (Stephen Graham) They become involved with the local bigwig in the crime scene “Brick Top” (Alan Ford) when they pit their own boxer against his bruiser in a high stakes match, which has, naturally enough, a pre-ordained outcome. (it’s rigged) Their fighter is accidentally incapacitated in a fight with Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt), an Irish gypsy who speaks a language all of his own, (I understood just a “little”
of what he was saying, living as I do in the Emerald Isle) while they are negotiating a deal involving a caravan. So the gypsy, “One Punch Mickey”, so called because of his ability to lay low any opponent with a solitary blow, is drafted in as a replacement. Off course, Brick Top insists that the outcome of the rearranged boxing match should remain the same, with his man coming out the victor. Brick Top has a rather disconcerting habit of chopping up people who double cross him, and then feeding them to his man-eating pigs, so Turkish and Tommy are more than a little concerned that the result of the match should be as he wishes. But Mad Mickey the Gippo has ideas of his own in that department, and is incapable of lying down for any man, huge stakes match or not!! I thought that Brad Pitt was truly excellent as Mickey, a role he must have found very difficult, given the requirement of a thick Irish accent, which he managed almost perfectly.
~ ~ Now for that amazing dog, a pit bull terrier (what else) that Tommy inherits as part of his deal with the gypsies. It turns up throughout the film, and provides some highly amusing moments, not least when it decides to swallow a squeaky toy whole, and thereafter goes around squeaking instead of barking. Later, it gets very involved in some of the more violent scenes on its own behalf, with some hilarious (and painful) consequences. I’m not going to give too much away here, as the dog was one of the film’s comedy highlights. (at least for me) That it didn’t even get a mention in the credits at the end must surely rank as one of the biggest injustices of the year.
~ ~ This storyline on its own would have made a good plot for most movies, but director Ritchie mixes in dozens of other fascinating characters and overlapping stories, just in case there is ever the slightest possibility of the film having a slow moment. The other main story revolves around an American hoodlum called Frankie Four Fingers.(Benicio Del Toro) He and his three henchmen have stolen a massive 86-carat diamond from a firm of Jewish jewellers in Antwerp, gaining access to their inner sanctum by the ingenious ploy of disguising themselves as Hasidim. (Orthodox Jews) The huge gem is to be delivered to Frankie's boss Avi (Dennis Farina) back in the States, so to keep it safe from thieving hands in the meantime, Frankie comes up with the less than clever idea of securing it in a briefcase which is always attached by a chain to his arm. I say “less than clever” as you can probably surmise that it is, in fact, eventually stolen from him, and he ends up losing more than just the diamond!!
~ ~ There are many links between the two stories, that usually centre on a mad and seemingly indestructible lunatic of a Russian called “Boris The Blade”. (Rade Serbedzija) An ex-KGB agent now living in London, who makes most of his money through arms dealing and crime, he appears to be able to take more bullets than an extra in a Sylvester Stallone movie, and still come back for more. Added to this mix is a trio of two-bit crooks who run a less than legal pawnshop. Sol (Lennie James) and Vincent (Robbie Gee), along with a two-ton getaway driver called Tyrone (Ade), make an inept robbery team who are hired by Boris to steal the diamond from Frankie Four Fingers. Tyrone is so fat that he can hardly get in and out of the getaway car, and his driving abilities are about on the same level as a totally blind novice, which leads to even more high comedy.
~ ~ When the diamond is stolen from Frankie Four Fingers, his boss Avi arrives post haste from the States to supervise its reacquisition. He is pally with Doug "the Head" (Mike Reid from Eastenders), a gentile jeweller who pretends to everyone that he's Jewish as he believes it will benefit his business. (which it does) Together they hire “Bullet Tooth Tony” (the one and only Vinny Jones) to help them track down the missing diamond. Vinny Jones has become more than a little typecast in this “hard man” role since his move from the soccer pitch at Wimbledon to the greener fields of Hollywood, but there is no question that he has the part down to a “T”, and his performance here had me in stitches. The scene where he has a showdown with the three bungling bandits, Sol, Vincent and Tyrone, in a London pub, is sheer brilliance. The three would be villains threaten Tony with replica pistols, a fact he catches onto very quickly, and he then produces a massive “Desert Eagle 50” of his own. The ensuing mayhem has to be seen to be believed.
~ ~ One other thing to look out for is the song "Lucky Star", the vintage melody from Madonna, that Guy Ritchie manages to work into the film as a concession to his recent nuptials with the “Material Girl” herself. But enough. If you want to know any more about this movie, then make the trip down to your local video shop and rent or buy this incredibly funny film for yourself. It’s a journey you’ll not regret. High marks for this one from the “mad cabbie”.
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Production Year: 2003 - Comedy - Director: John Crowley - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Colin Farrell, Shirley Henderson, Cillian Murphy, Colm Meaney, Rory Keenan, Laurence Kinlan
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
(+) Because of the new series the box set isn't complete, which means it will be cheaper! (-) It isnt the complete box set so you'll have to buy the new dvds seperatly or wait for the new set!
Guy Ritchie writer/director of 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' delivers another ... more
awe-inspiring directorial masterpiece. 'Snatch' is an edgy and hilarious film about a diamond heist gone wrong a colourful Irish gypsy turned prizefighter and a ver...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Guy Ritchie, Writer/Director of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, delivers another ... more
awe-inspiring directorial masterpiece, Snatch - an edgy and hilarious film about a diamond heist gone wrong, a colourful Irish gypsy turned prize fighter... and a very...
![Snatch - Two Disc Set [DVD] [2000]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78521403.jpg "Snatch - Two Disc Set [DVD] [2000]")
Aug 2nd, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
