Snatch (film)
| Snatch | |
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 UK Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Guy Ritchie |
| Produced by | Matthew Vaughn |
| Written by | Guy Ritchie |
| Narrated by | Jason Statham |
| Starring | Jason Statham Benicio del Toro Dennis Farina Brad Pitt Rade Šerbedžija Vinnie Jones Mike Reid |
| Music by | John Murphy Noel Gallagher |
| Cinematography | Tim Maurice-Jones |
| Editing by | Jon Harris |
| Studio | SKA Films |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Screen Gems |
| Release date(s) | United Kingdom August 23, 2000 (premiere) September 1, 2000 (wide) Australia November 9, 2000 United States December 6, 2000 (Los Angeles, California) January 19, 2001 (wide) |
| Running time | 104 minutes (UK) 102 minutes (USA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $83,557,872[1] |
Snatch is a 2000 crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, and featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots — one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish (Jason Statham) who finds himself under the thumb of a sadistic gangster known as Brick Top (Alan Ford).
Snatch features an assortment of colourful characters, including the "pikey" Irish Traveller Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt), Russian-Uzbek ex-KGB agent and arms-dealer Boris "the Blade" Yurinov (Rade Sherbedgia), professional thief and gambling addict Frankie "Four-Fingers" (Benicio del Toro) and bounty hunter Bullet-Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones). It is also distinguished by a kinetic direction and editing style, a circular plot featuring numerous ironic twists of chance and causality, and a fast pace.
The film shares similar themes, ideas and motifs as Ritchie's first film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It is also filmed in the same visual style and features many of the same actors, including Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham, Alan Ford and Jason Flemyng, who appears in a minor role as one of the "pikeys".
Contents |
Plot
Young boxing promoter “Turkish” (Jason Statham) narrates the film, and his opening monologue introduces himself and his partner Tommy (Stephen Graham) while providing a back-story on the origins of the diamond that occupies all of the film's characters.
The action switches to Antwerp, Belgium, where robbers disguised as long-time customers steal an 84 carat diamond. The head-robber suggests that courier “Frankie Four-Fingers" (Benicio del Toro) - who is to sell the gem on behalf of New Yorker Abraham "Cousin Avi" Denovitz (Dennis Farina), who bankrolled the theft - should first stop by Boris "The Blade” Yurinov (Rade Šerbedžija) to buy a proper weapon.
Avi expects the stone to be delivered to his diamond dealer cousin Doug “The Head" Denovitz (Mike Reid) in London, but the Antwerp robber conspires with Boris "The Blade" - his London-based brother - to arrange for a third party to steal the diamond from Frankie "Four Fingers", so that Avi can't trace them to the theft.
Meanwhile, promoter Turkish convinces the head of local unlicensed boxing and bookies owner, "Brick Top" Pilford (Alan Ford), to add the matches of his fighter "Gorgeous George" (Adam Fogerty) to the bets at his bookies, in an attempt to boost his own business. Brick Top agrees, but Gorgeous George gets badly injured before the fight and cannot compete. To avoid a cancellation and Brick Top's temper, Turkish recruits Irish “pikey” (gypsy) Mickey O’Neil (Brad Pitt), a champion bare-knuckle fighter, who injured George in the first place. Brick Top agrees to the substitution, but adds the stipulation that Mickey throw the fourth round so that Brick Top's inside circle can gamble on the fight with a guaranteed chance of payout.
Frankie "Four Fingers" calls in on Boris for a weapon, but "The Blade" provides him with a junk gun and in return for a favour - Boris has lost his house privileges at Brick Top's bookies, and he wants Frankie to place a bet there for him. In New York, Avi hears that his courier is gambling and - aware that Frankie has a gambling problem - flies straight to London.
The Yurinovs find a third party for their own robbery in Sol and Vinny, brothers and joint-owners of a pawnbrokers. The brothers wait in a car outside Brick Top's bookies, accompanied by driver Tyrone and Vinnie's dog, looking for the man with four fingers and a briefcase. The men see a man with a briefcase enter the bookies, and Sol and Vinny storm the premises. But all pre-match bets are off because of the last-minute fighter change, there’s very little money in the cash register, and the man with the briefcase in fact has five fingers. Sol and Vinny manage to escape the security system and run back to the car. As the car pulls away, Tyrone sees the four-fingered man in his rear-view mirror. Stopping, he wrestles Frankie into back seat and drives back to the pawnbroker’s.
The boxing match is a farce – Mickey knocks out his opponent with the first hit - and Brick Top’s patrons lose money on the fight. Turkish heads straight to his office for cash to flee the country and avoid Brick Top’s wrath, but he is there waiting for him. Brick Top tells Turkish that Mickey must fight again and throw the fourth round for sure this time, in order to make up for Brick Top’s investors’ losses. As immediate retribution, Brick Top takes everything from Turkish’s safe. Brick Top then tells his men to find out who robbed him.
At the pawnshop, Sol and Vinny discover the diamond in the briefcase still handcuffed to Frankie. As they lock the diamond back in the briefcase, Boris realizes that the duo have given away Boris' name in front of Frankie. He shoots Frankie to maintain his incognito status in the theft, yet the gambler was the only one in the room who knew the combination to the briefcase lock. Boris dismembers Frankie to get the briefcase, and leaves Sol and Vinnie with £10,000 and the body.
Sol and Vinny are soon discovered to be the robbers. Brick Top and his men find them at the back of the pawnshop, puzzling over the disposal of Frankie’s body with “Yardie Bad-Boy” Lincoln (Goldie). Brick Top describes a method of body disposal that involves the corpse being consumed by ravenous pigs, and he makes it clear that he is going to dispose of Tyrone, Sol and Vinny in the same way. Sol pleads that, if they’re released, they’ll return with a diamond. Brick Top gives them 48 hours to produce the diamond.
To find the missing Frankie, Avi and Doug hire a mercenary named “Bullet-Tooth” Tony (Vinnie Jones). Tony tortures a street punk into revealing who robbed the bookies. Tony and Avi confront Sol at the pawnshop, and Sol is forced to admit at gunpoint that Boris killed Frankie and took the diamond.
Since Brick Top robbed Turkish of his cash, Turkish has to ask Brick Top to purchase Mickey’s payment. Furious, Brick Top retaliates to Mickey's supposed audacity by setting fire to his mum's caravan while she's asleep. In the melee at Turkish's headquarters, Tommy saves Turkish's life by threatening Brick Top's thugs with his (broken) revolver. Turkish decides it's probably a good idea to go back to Boris the Blade for a gun that works.
Boris shows up at Doug’s shop to negotiate the diamond’s sale. Tony, Avi and Avi’s henchman “Rosebud” (Sam Douglas) take Boris for a ride in the car and, with difficulty, determine that the diamond is back at Boris' house. At the same time, Tyrone is keeping watch on Boris’ house so the hapless bookies robbers can retrieve the diamond when he returns. But Tony and Avi locate the briefcase first and get back on the road. Tyrone reports back to Sol and Vinnie, and the three try to catch up in Tyrone's car.
Turkish and Tommy are heading to Boris' place to get Tommy a new gun, while Tony, Avi and Boris are in another car and Tyrone, Sol and Vinnie are following them. Turkish and Tommy are arguing about the benefits and history of milk, and Tommy throws a carton Turkish was drinking out the window, which lands on Tony's windshield. Tony loses control and crashes just before Rosebud is going to kill Boris. Boris escapes the wreck, only to be hit by Tyrone’s car following behind. Avi and Tony leave the wreck for a nearby bar to clean up and regroup. Rosebud is killed in the crash with the very blade he planned to use on Boris.
The characters now converge on the bar to wrestle over the briefcase. Sol, Vinnie and Tyrone show up with replica guns with "extra-loud blanks" but are unable to intimidate Tony and Avi into giving up the briefcase. Wounded Boris arrives with an assault rifle grabbed from home. Shooting from behind a wall, Tony is able to subdue Boris and wound Tyrone, but Sol and Vinnie escape with the briefcase. Tony discovers Boris "the Bullet Dodger" still alive and manages to kill him, but only after emptying an entire magazine from his Desert Eagle into his body.
Sol and Vinnie head to Brick Top's with the diamond. Before they can give it to Brick Top and save themselves, Tony appears. Vinnie hides the diamond in his pants, and says the diamond is back at the pawnshop. At the pawnshop, Sol and Vinnie pretend to look for the stone. They claim Vinnie’s dog probably ate it. When Tony and Avi threaten to take the dog apart to find it, Vinnie pulls out the diamond. The dog snatches the diamond from Avi and jumps out the window. Avi blindly fires at the dog, killing Tony instead. Avi flees the country, returning to New York.
Mickey’s second fight is approaching, Tommy fears Mickey won’t go down in the fourth round and Turkish fears Mickey won’t be in any shape to fight at all, since his mother’s funeral is taking place, and an Irish Gypsy wake can only mean binge drinking. In case Mickey doesn't go down, Brick Top organises henchmen to wait outside the boxing arena with orders to shoot Turkish, Tommy and Mickey. He also has henchmen near the pikey campsite, ready to slaughter the entire camp on command.
When the fourth round begins, Mickey appears to be on the verge of defeat after a vicious uppercut and repeated punishment. However, he recovers from the near knockout and delivers a one-punch knockout to his opponent instead. Brick Top leaves the arena immediately and sees Turkish and Tommy dragging Mickey out as they flee the chaos inside. Brick Top demands a gun from his waiting car, but the car’s occupant shoots Brick Top instead. Mickey had in fact been betting on himself all along and, to avenge his mother's murder, mobilised the pikeys against Brick Top's gang.
The next morning, Turkish and Tommy head to the pikey campsite to ask Mickey to keep fighting for them, only to find that the pikeys have buried Brick Top's men and vanished. The police arrive and question Turkish and Tommy. They don't know what to say, but Vinnie's dog, who had returned to his original home at the pikey camp, appears. Turkish and Tommy claim they were taking the dog for a walk. They scoop up the dog and head home, passing Sol and Vinny, who have also been pulled over by the police with Frankie's body in the boot. Sol and Vinny are stunned to see Vinny's dog in the car with Turkish and Tommy.
Turkish narrates that he couldn't take the dog's constant squeaking, so they took it to a vet. Inside the dog's stomach was a half-eaten chew toy and a huge diamond. Tommy and Turkish are consulting the unknown man before them about the diamond - Doug “The Head" Denovitz. Turkish asks him if he knows anyone who would be interested in buying such a large diamond. Doug says he might. The film concludes with Avi on a return flight to London.
Reception
Snatch was largely successful, both in critical acclaim and at the box office, and has gone on to develop a devoted cult following. From an estimated budget of $3,000,000 (according to the Director's Commentary), the movie grossed a total of $30,093,107 in the United States and £12,137,698 in the United Kingdom.[2] Rotten Tomatoes lists Snatch as having 73% of the reviews (133 reviews listed in total) as being "fresh" (positive).[3]
Snatch also appears in Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time at number 466.[4]
While the film received mostly positive reviews, several reviewers commented negatively on perceived similarities in plot, character, setting, theme and style between Snatch and Ritchie's previous work, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In his review, Roger Ebert, who gave the film two out of four stars, raised the question of "What am I to say of "Snatch", Ritchie's new film, which follows the "Lock, Stock" formula so slavishly it could be like a new arrangement of the same song?",[5] and writing in the New York Times Elvis Mitchell commented that "Mr. Ritchie seems to be stepping backward when he should be moving ahead".[6] Critics also argued that the movie was lacking in depth and substance; many reviewers appeared to agree with Ebert's comment that "the movie is not boring, but it doesn't build and it doesn't arrive anywhere".[5]
Trivia
The connection of Irish Travellers to bareknuckle boxing is not spurious, and there have been a number of noted Irish Traveller bareknuckle boxers; notably Bartley Gorman, the champion from 1972–1992. Further, Snatch continues Ritchie's interest in bareknuckle, underground boxing – Lenny McLean, who featured in Ritchie's previous film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and to whom that film was dedicated, was a champion unlicensed boxer.
The song "Boris the Blade" performed by Mychildren Mybride was written with this movie in mind.[7]
Cast
Cast, including the eventual fate of each character.
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Abraham "Cousin Avi" Denovitz | Dennis Farina |
| Turkish | Jason Statham |
| Mickey O'Neil | Brad Pitt |
| Frankie "Four-Fingers" | Benicio del Toro |
| Boris The Blade aka Boris The Bullet Dodger | Rade Šerbedžija |
| Tommy | Stephen Graham |
| Gorgeous George | Adam Fogerty |
| Douglas "Doug The Head" Denovitz | Mike Reid |
| Sol/Solomon | Lennie James |
| Vinnie/Vincent | Robbie Gee |
| Tyrone | Ade |
| Bad Boy Lincoln | Goldie |
| Bullet Tooth Tony | Vinnie Jones |
| Brick Top Polford | Alan Ford |
| Errol | Andy Beckwith |
| Rosebud | Sam Douglas |
| John | Dave Legeno |
| Mullet | Ewen Bremner |
Soundtrack
| Snatch: Stealin' Stones and Breakin' Bones | ||||
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| Soundtrack by various artists | ||||
| Released | January 9, 2001 | |||
| Genre | Rock Pop Brit pop Reggae Jazz Rock |
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| Label | Universal International TVT |
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Two versions of the soundtrack album were released, one on the Universal International label with 23 tracks and a TVT Records release with 20.
Track listing
- "Diamond" - Klint
- "Vere Iz da Storn?" - Benicio del Toro
- "Supermoves" - Overseer
- "Hernando's Hideaway" - The Johnston Brothers
- "Zee Germans" - Jason Statham
- "Golden Brown" - The Stranglers
- "Dreadlock Holiday" - 10cc
- "Hava Nagila" - John Murphy and Daniel L. Griffiths
- "Avi Arrives" - Dennis Farina
- "Cross the Tracks (We Better Go Back)" - Maceo & the Macks
- "Disco Science" - Mirwais
- "Nemesis" - Alan Ford
- "Hot Pants (I'm Coming, Coming, I'm Coming)" - Bobby Byrd
- "Lucky Star" - Madonna
- "Come Again!" - Alan Ford
- "Ghost Town" - The Specials
- "Shrinking Balls" - Vinnie Jones
- "Sensual Woman" - The Herbaliser
- "Angel" - Massive Attack
- "RRRR...Rumble" - Charles Cork
- "Fuckin' in the Bushes" - Oasis
- "Avi's Declaration" - Dennis Farina
- "Don't You Just Know It" - Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns
DVD releases
The film has been released in multiple incarnations on DVD.
On July 3rd 2001, a two-disc "Special Edition" was released, containing both a full screen and widescreen presentation of the feature. Also included was an audio commentary track with director Guy Ritchie and producer Matthew Vaughn. The special features on the second disc included a "making of" featurette, deleted scenes, original theatrical trailer and TV spots, text/photo galleries, storyboard comparisons, and filmographies.
On 17 September 2002, Sony released a "Deluxe Collection" set in the company's superbit format. This release contained two discs, one being the special features disc of the original DVD release, and the other a superbit version of the feature. As is the case with superbit presentations, the disc was absent of the additional features included in the original standard DVD, such as the audio commentary. (The disc did still contain subtitles in eight different languages including a "pikey" track, which only showed subtitles for the character Mickey.)
Nine months later, on June 3rd 2003, a single disc setup was released, with new cover art, containing the feature disc of the special edition set. This version was simply a repackaging, not including the second disc.
Deluxe edition error
On January 3rd 2006, yet another two-disc set was released. This version was set to be a repackaging of the original two-disc special edition release, containing the same features and content, but with different menu setups and decor. The box set featured a new theme represented in the cover art and included were a custom deck of playing cards and dealer button in the same theme. Also included was a supplemental booklet revealing extended filmography information about the cast as well as theatrical press kit production notes.
Soon after the set was released, it was discovered the feature disc that was supposed to contain the film in its original special edition incarnation (with audio commentary, etc.) was not included. Instead, the Superbit release, containing the higher quality version of the film, was in its place.[8] Customers posted in multiple online forums detailing the mistake. Some customers were happy with the switch while others were disappointed, as the disc contained a higher quality display of the film, but lacked the audio commentary track and the "Stealing Stones" feature option that were stated as included on the packaging.
According to some customers, after e-mailing Sony and explaining the situation the company replaced the customers' discs with the correct version.
It has also been stated that the error has since been corrected and later releases of the Deluxe Edition set included the proper disc.
Notes
- ↑ "Snatch (2000)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=snatch.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
- ↑ "Snatch. (2000) - Box office / business". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208092/business. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ↑ "Snatch - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/snatch/. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
- ↑ "Empire Features". Empireonline.com. http://www.empireonline.com/500/7.asp. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ebert, Roger (2001-01-19). "Reviews - Snatch". Sun Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20010119/REVIEWS/101190306/1023. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ↑ Mitchell, Elvis (2001-01-19). "'Snatch': Man, All They Wanted Was to Go Buy a Trailer". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/19/arts/19SNAT.html?ex=1200546000&en=005cfdd5f436065d&ei=5070. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ↑ "EYE APPOINTMENT TODAY! so stoked that im... on DailyBooth". Dailybooth.com. 2010-02-03. http://dailybooth.com/xmatthewx/2929708. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
- ↑ DVDtalk.com, Snatch: Deluxe Edition (w/ Exclusive Poker Kit). Retrieved 2008-04-03.
External links
- Snatch at the Internet Movie Database
- Snatch. at Allmovie
- Snatch at Box Office Mojo
- DVD versions and details
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