a movie review by: Susan Granger

British writer/director Guy Ritchie repeats the hip "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" formula with this new, ultra-violent crime caper - and it's less effective the second time 'round. This is all about a diamond heist gone sour, bare knuckle boxing and a dog who swallows a squeak toy. Benicio Del Toro ("Traffic") is Franky Four Fingers, a diamond thief and gambler, who is passing through London en route to New York to deliver a glittering 86-carat gem that he stole in Antwerp to his Anglophobe boss, Dennis Farina. While distributing some smaller sparklers to his boss's mobster cousin and other Hatton Garden jewelers, he places a bet on an illegal boxing match. What he doesn't know is that he's been set up for robbery - and worse. So much for the gruesome, convoluted plot. The gritty, working-class characters are sadistic gangster caricatures and not at all likable, in contrast to the four lads in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." Brad Pitt is almost unintelligible as One Punch Mickey, an Irish gypsy boxer; he's brawny and buff but he seems to be babbling incoherently. As for Guy Ritchie's Tarantino-like craftsmanship in directing, it's simply "been there, done that" as the colorful, if over-aggressive, bumblers energetically bungle their way from mishap to mayhem. And what's with the supposedly symbolic scenes of cruelty to animals? Surely Ritchie's torrid courtship of Madonna and Child cannot have robbed him of all originality. However, one must credit him for a disgustingly unique explanation of the phrase, "as greedy as a pig." On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Snatch" is a confusing, shamelessly repetitive 4. Its continuous action and frenetic pace don't make it either fresh or funny. I'm curious to see what genre Ritchie tackles next.

Brad Pitt Art Print

Benicio Del Toro Photo

Jason Statham Photograph

Vinnie Jones Photograph