Snatch. (2000)

Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.

Director:

Guy Ritchie

Writer:

Guy Ritchie

Stars:

Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Brad Pitt

Top 250 #109 | 4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Benicio Del Toro	...	Franky Four Fingers
Dennis Farina	...	Cousin Avi
Vinnie Jones	...	Bullet-Tooth Tony
Brad Pitt	...	Mickey O'Neil
Rade Serbedzija	...	Boris the Blade (as Rade Sherbedgia)
Jason Statham	...	Turkish
Alan Ford	...	Brick Top
Mike Reid	...	Doug the Head
Robbie Gee	...	Vinny
Lennie James	...	Sol
Ewen Bremner	...	Mullet
Jason Flemyng	...	Darren
Ade	...	Tyrone
William Beck	...	Neil
Andy Beckwith	...	Errol

Storyline

Turkish and his close friend/accomplice Tommy get pulled into the world of match fixing by the notorious Brick Top. Things get complicated when the boxer they had lined up gets badly beaten by Pitt, a 'pikey' ( slang for an Irish Gypsy)- who comes into the equation after Turkish, an unlicensed boxing promoter wants to buy a caravan off the Irish Gypsies. They then try to convince Pitt not only to fight for them, but to lose for them too. Whilst all this is going on, a huge diamond heist takes place, and a fistful of motley characters enter the story, including 'Cousin Avi', 'Boris The Blade', 'Franky Four Fingers' and 'Bullet Tooth Tony'. Things go from bad to worse as it all becomes about the money, the guns, and the damned dog!

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Plot Keywords:

diamond | boxing | fight | gypsy | boxer | 

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Taglines:

Stealin' Stones and Breakin' Bones

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language and some nudity

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

19 January 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Diamonds

Filming Locations:

Bethnal Green Town Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$27,932 (USA) (8 December 2000)

Gross:

$30,093,107 (USA) (9 March 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, SKA Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nearly every death in the movie takes place off-screen.

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Goofs

When Vincent, Sol, and Tyrone get into the car before they rob the bookies, Vincent's turtleneck is gray. When they crash into Franky Four Finger's van, his turtleneck changes to burgundy.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Turkish: [narrating] My name is Turkish. Funny name for an Englishman, I know. My parents to be were on the same plane when it crashed. That's how they met. They named me after the name of the plane. Not many people are named after a plane crash. That's Tommy. He tells people he was named after a gun, but I know he was really named after a famous 19th century ballet dancer.

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Crazy Credits

In the closing credits, "Gypsy kids" is misspelled "Gyspy kids."

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Connections

Spoofs Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

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Soundtracks

"ARE YOU THERE?"
Written by Seba
Performed by Klint
Courtesy of Tritone Records Limited

User Reviews

The way movies -should- be made.

Read this review carefully, please.

First off, Snatch is an amazing movie in every sense of the word. There are very few movies made where the director obviously did not let one FRAME onto the screen without a reason, and Snatch is one of them. Nothing happens onscreen without it having an effect on the plot.

By now you know the plot, or plots. We follow a diamond-heist and the various characters trying to get theirs, at the same time following participants in an illegal boxing ring. The incredible part of the movie is how every scene ties in with the rest somehow, every character connects with the rest at least once.

There are complaints that the movie is confusing, or muddled. There are a lot of things that they don't tell you (such as what the dog has to do with anything, but he's a VERY important character), and that's a good thing. Too many movies force feed the audience its plot points (Think The Ring vs. Ringu, did we need the "How long could you survive down there all alone?" line?). Rather, we just watch occurrences, and have to piece together what ties everything together, the plot weaves together beautifully.

The cinematography and performances are fantastic as well. Even the soundtrack is perfect. The camera style during the fight scenes (slowdown/stop/go) makes it difficult to stop watching, the sound effects fit in quietly in the background without being overwhelming. And it will be IMPOSSIBLE to watch this movie without repeating many of the lines around your friends. I found myself saying "Zee Germans" and things like "It's not like he's a set of car keys, now is it?" quite a bit. Naturally, Brad Pitt's pikey is one of the most outlandish I've ever seen.

Summary: watch the movie, and don't expect to be TOLD everything, expect to have to pay attention.