‘Snatch’: Violence and bad accents
What happened to Hollywood’s tough-guys? It used to be you could expect a “Die Hard” or “Lethal Weapon” to come out every year. These films gave Americans a sense that somewhere, even if only on film, we still had heroes. These heroes endured repeated injustices, beatings and torture so the rest of us could sit in the theater shoving popcorn into our faces and be reassured of our superiority as a brave and noble society.
So where have they gone? I haven’t seen a decent American tough-guy flick since “Fight Club” – a film where only a dangerous sociopath could find a role model. Role models aside, what happened to real men like “Die Hard’s” detective John McClane? With “Snatch” it seems his kind have moved to England. I’m sorry to say that if there were an academy award given for best bruiser, it would certainly end up in the hands of the tea-swilling, no-right-to-bear-arms British. As a nation famous for its violence, we should be embarrassed.
“Snatch” is a movie about the underground crime scene in London. And though it has plenty of characters running around wielding guns, it’s chock full of thugs, jackboots and men who aren’t afraid to solve their problems with fists and knives. Perhaps that’s the charm of British action movies.
Americans are fascinated by the novelty of characters who don’t solve their problems with machine guns and military hardware bought in street-corner pawnshops. Perhaps we’re so used to seeing Snoop-Dogg homey gangsters fighting pitched gun battles with paramilitary policemen we’ve become fascinated by the novelty of two men going at it in fist-to-cuffs. Of course, maybe it’s just the silly accents that get us – like the one used by Brad Pitt’s character, Mickey O’Neil.
The plot is too complicated to explain in a 500-word article, but suffice it to say that a lot of thugs and con men are looking to get rich by robbing, murdering and swindling each other.
The movie also offers some interesting facts about the use of hungry pigs to dispose of the unwanted bodies of rival mobsters.
“Snatch” is not a serious film, and although the story is stifling in its complexity (in what is quickly becoming Ritchie’s calling card), it doesn’t really care to arrive at a substantial conclusion. It just sort of ends.
Ritchie’s last movie, “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” was criticized for its indecipherable plot and the difficult-to-understand characters. His response in “Snatch” was to start with a similar plot and players, add an American who loses his temper because he can’t make sense of anything that is said and Brad Pitt’s character, a gypsy whose accent is so thick that nobody can understand him.
This movie might not be the best date movie – unless your girlfriend is like the ones we saw in the theater. Confounded by the accents and complicated plot, they took to playing with their cell phones and making prank calls to friends who were sitting two seats away. I guess entertainment comes in many forms.
If you’re looking for a decent action movie with a complicated plot and lots of colorful characters, “Snatch” is a good bet. The thick British accents often make the dialogue difficult to follow, so try and bring an interpreter. If you don’t have access to an interpreter, you’d better bring along your cell phone – just in case.