Hey guys, I'm giving this 7 out of 10. I liked it! Good setup and good follow-through.
When a friend offers to send him a package of ecstasy pills, teenager Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron) is more than a little reluctant, but still curious. He accepts, and bam, he's arrested for drug distribution and sentenced to 10 years. Kid's doomed unless he sells out somebody else, which he can't. He knows nobody in the drug scene. End of the line? Not if his dad John Matthews can help it. Good old man of action Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson slips into the market to sell the baddies out himself, and a tight action thriller ensues. "Snitch" delivers a solid plot, tension, drama and effective action in the right places. At the same time, it raises interesting observations about US drug laws.
"Inspired by true events," one of the first lines on the screen said. Oh well, I thought. Another one of those. Sells better, huh? Then, I learned about those true events going on in the US legal system. Wait a minute, a boy is caught with a box of ecstasy pills – no evidence he wanted to sell them, no criminal record – and he gets a mandatory minimum of 10 years in jail?! Um... This is a country where pedophiles and rapists can go free.
It reminded me of an interview with US economist Jeffrey Miron that, just a coincidence, I'd read the same day in German newspaper "Der Spiegel". Legalize drugs already, he says. Portugal did it, and they're fine! People here take them anyway! The nation could save tons of money, crime rates would go down, less people would die. Interesting, I thought as I watched the movie. Instead, there's expensive drug laws possibly doing more harm than good.
I was impressed with the detail put into the main characters. Matthews has two families: his ex-wife and son, and his current wife and little daughter. We see the effects of his actions - past, as a bad father, and present, as a drug informant – on both sides. We are also introduced to a ex-convict colleague he teams up with, that guy's family and the effects on them when things get tough. A rich plot and lot of tension derive from these back stories.
To boot, Susan Sarandon deserves special mention as the US District Attorney on the kid's case. Introduced as a cold, cynical bitch, she alternates between law enforcement, her agenda as a candidate for Congress, and eventually doing the right thing. But is it for the right reasons? She's an interesting character I could never completely dislike. Very nice performance.
All that said, "Snitch" isn't a deep masterpiece of modern cinema. Although slow-paced, it's designed as an action movie, with flashy stunts, a big ol' shootout and fist fights. The writing is effect- conscious, and so is the shaky-cam direction.
Looking around the Internet, I see "Snitch" receiving mixed reviews. Personally, I think this movie is well above average. Seeing it in the wake of the random and bad "A Good Day to Die Hard", I'll admit I was on the lookout for "this is how it's done, bitches" moments. Here are some: "The Rock" delivers a good performance in a rare serious role, a solid cast supports him, there's thought in the plot, characters are well- drawn with fleshed-out back stories, and they develop. Tangible stakes amount to "Breaking Bad"-level suspense, and you get well-placed, effective action scenes. Overall, "Snitch" makes for an evening well spent.
When a friend offers to send him a package of ecstasy pills, teenager Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron) is more than a little reluctant, but still curious. He accepts, and bam, he's arrested for drug distribution and sentenced to 10 years. Kid's doomed unless he sells out somebody else, which he can't. He knows nobody in the drug scene. End of the line? Not if his dad John Matthews can help it. Good old man of action Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson slips into the market to sell the baddies out himself, and a tight action thriller ensues. "Snitch" delivers a solid plot, tension, drama and effective action in the right places. At the same time, it raises interesting observations about US drug laws.
"Inspired by true events," one of the first lines on the screen said. Oh well, I thought. Another one of those. Sells better, huh? Then, I learned about those true events going on in the US legal system. Wait a minute, a boy is caught with a box of ecstasy pills – no evidence he wanted to sell them, no criminal record – and he gets a mandatory minimum of 10 years in jail?! Um... This is a country where pedophiles and rapists can go free.
It reminded me of an interview with US economist Jeffrey Miron that, just a coincidence, I'd read the same day in German newspaper "Der Spiegel". Legalize drugs already, he says. Portugal did it, and they're fine! People here take them anyway! The nation could save tons of money, crime rates would go down, less people would die. Interesting, I thought as I watched the movie. Instead, there's expensive drug laws possibly doing more harm than good.
I was impressed with the detail put into the main characters. Matthews has two families: his ex-wife and son, and his current wife and little daughter. We see the effects of his actions - past, as a bad father, and present, as a drug informant – on both sides. We are also introduced to a ex-convict colleague he teams up with, that guy's family and the effects on them when things get tough. A rich plot and lot of tension derive from these back stories.
To boot, Susan Sarandon deserves special mention as the US District Attorney on the kid's case. Introduced as a cold, cynical bitch, she alternates between law enforcement, her agenda as a candidate for Congress, and eventually doing the right thing. But is it for the right reasons? She's an interesting character I could never completely dislike. Very nice performance.
All that said, "Snitch" isn't a deep masterpiece of modern cinema. Although slow-paced, it's designed as an action movie, with flashy stunts, a big ol' shootout and fist fights. The writing is effect- conscious, and so is the shaky-cam direction.
Looking around the Internet, I see "Snitch" receiving mixed reviews. Personally, I think this movie is well above average. Seeing it in the wake of the random and bad "A Good Day to Die Hard", I'll admit I was on the lookout for "this is how it's done, bitches" moments. Here are some: "The Rock" delivers a good performance in a rare serious role, a solid cast supports him, there's thought in the plot, characters are well- drawn with fleshed-out back stories, and they develop. Tangible stakes amount to "Breaking Bad"-level suspense, and you get well-placed, effective action scenes. Overall, "Snitch" makes for an evening well spent.