Snatch

First of all, I’d like to apologize for our recent absence.  Between some other responsibilities, my own crazy personal life happenings and our final exams, we’ve been out of commission for a while.  BUT we managed to work in some movie-watching for relaxation time during finals.

So without further ado, let’s talk about Snatch.

Snatch comes in at 132.  With some of our movies, it’s easy to give a knee-jerk reaction, saying that the movie is clearly too high or too low or that it’s about where it belongs.  For me, Snatch — even after about a week — is still an enigma.

I liked the Script.  To me, the story is disjointed.  I wouldn’t call it difficult to follow because while the story raises questions as the plot moves forward, it answers them satisfactorily.  However, the pieces don’t fit quite how they should.  It’s like reading a book where the chapters come in a seemingly nonsensical order and you don’t understand anyone’s motivation.

Ultimately, that’s Snatch’s downfall story-wise.  The story is compelling and unique and interesting, but there is no clear motivation for most of the characters other than maybe that it’s fun?

The acting is also a mixed bag.  The quality is there, and Jason Statham, Brad Pitt and Alan Ford are phenomenal.  I had some problems with the black guys who were working together.  The relationship between the three men just doesn’t appear genuine.  It truly feels like they are reading off cue cards at times.  That being said, the issue rarely arises due to their smaller percentage of scenes throughout the movie.

As far as directing and cinematography are concerned, they do some unusual things and do them well.  UNFORTUNATELY, it’s been a week since I watched the movie and can’t find my notes on it, even though I have them for the other three films we’ve watched.  I can say that I particularly enjoyed the fight scenes and the timing throughout the film.  The way that silence was utilized is a tribute to Guy Ritchie (director).

The soundtrack was appropriate.  There isn’t too much to say about it, really.  I scored it an 8 because I enjoyed how it was utilized, but not much more than that.

The special effects are prevalent throughout that movie, but in unorthodox ways.  For example, the fights.  The blood and spittle were good.  I understand that this sounds mundane, but we have ALL seen movies where such makeup necessities can forcibly tear us out of the immersion and ruin the film altogether.  But the best special effect is the dog that squeaks throughout the entire movie (Medlocks’ favorite).  Seriously, the puppy swallows a chew toy at the beginning of the movie and squeaks for the remainder of the film.  Loved it.

Ultimately, Snatch was good but not great.  Marc will tell you otherwise.  Marc is a fanboy.  As a friend I spoke with this weekend says “I feel like Snatch is a college movie.  You love it, and then you get over it.”  So get over it, Marc.

Author	Script	Acting	Cinematography	Soundtrack	Directing	Special Effects	Overall
Ben	9	8	8	8	9	9	8.500
Marc	10	10	9	9	9	9	9.333
Jon	8	8	7	8	8	8	7.833