Snatch. (film)

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Snatch.
Theatrical poster for Snatch.
Directed by	Guy Ritchie
Produced by	Matthew Vaughn
Written by	Guy Ritchie
Starring	Jason Statham Stephen Graham Brad Pitt Alan Ford Dennis Farina Vinnie Jones Mike Reid Rade Šerbedžija Benicio Del Toro
Music by	Noel Gallagher Massive Attack John Murphy Tim Rowlands
Cinematography	Tim Maurice-Jones
Editing by	Jon Harris
Distributed by	Columbia Tri-Star
Release date(s)	September 1 2000
Running time	103 min. (approx.)
Country	United Kingdom  United States
Language	English Russian
Budget	US$10 million (approx.)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Snatch. (sometimes spelt without a full stop) is a 2000 film by British writer-director Guy Ritchie. It features an ensemble cast including Dennis Farina, Alan Ford, Stephen Graham, Lennie James, Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro, Vinnie Jones, Rade Šerbedžija and Jason Statham. Set in the London criminal underworld, the movie contains two intertwined plots — one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish (Statham) who finds himself under the thumb of a psychotic gangster named Brick Top (Ford).

The film is characterised by Ritchie's usual assortment of colourful characters, including the "pikey" Irish Traveller Mickey O'Neill (Pitt), Uzbek ex-KGB agent and arms-dealer Boris 'the Blade' Yurinov (or Boris the Bullet-Dodger) (Šerbedžija), professional thief-gambling addict Franky 'Four-Fingers' (del Toro) and bounty-hunter Bullet-Tooth Tony (Jones), who can "find you Moses and the burning bush if you pay him enough". It is also distinguished by a kinetic direction and editing style, and a circular plot featuring numerous ironic twists of chance and causality. It is also notable for its fast pace.

The movie 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 and Jason Flemyng, who appears in a minor role as one of the 'pikies'.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Detailed Summary 3 Character Outcomes 4 Reaction 5 Overview 6 Trivia 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Plot

The movie contains two main plots, both of which are intertwined. The first centres around a very valuable 84 carat (17.2 g) diamond (about the size of a "fist", as described by one of the robbers). It is stolen by Franky 'Four-Fingers' (Del Toro) in Antwerp and brought to London, where he and the diamond fall afoul of local thieves and underworld figures, all of whom scramble to claim the diamond for themselves. The other revolves around an unlicensed boxing promoter named Turkish who finds himself in debt to a psychotic local crime boss, Brick Top (infamously known for feeding those who fall out of his favour to his prized pigs) after his boxer Gorgeous George is incapacitated in a dispute with a group of pikeys over a caravan. Forced to improvise, Turkish and his partner Tommy decide to acquire the services of Mickey, the same pikey who knocked out Gorgeous George. As events twist and turn, the two situations blend into one with a chain reaction of events carrying on for each and every character.

[edit] Detailed Summary

After having successfully stolen an 84-carat diamond from a Hasidic diamond dealership in Antwerp, Franky Four Fingers (Benicio Del Toro) (who lost one of his fingers in a poker game) is told by Avi Denovitz (Dennis Farina) in New York, to sell the extra diamonds he stole to his cousin Doug 'The Head' in London - but to be careful not to do any gambling in the meantime. What Franky doesn't know is that one of his accomplices calls Boris 'The Blade', an ex-KGB man, telling him about the diamond. Boris' brother sent Franky to Boris to buy a gun, but doesn't want Franky killed, or for Boris to steal the diamond himself (to avoid raising suspicion). When Franky meets Boris, Boris plays on Franky's love of gambling, asking him to place a bet for him at a bookies on an upcoming fight as payment for the gun he just bought.

Meanwhile, Turkish (Jason Statham) and his partner Tommy (Stephen Graham) are training Gorgeous George to fight in an unlicenced boxing match against a boxer supplied by Brick Top (Alan Ford). Brick Top is a ruthless man, known for punishing people who cross him by killing them and feeding them to hungry pigs. Turkish asks Tommy to get him a new caravan from the 'pikeys', people who live in their own communities made up of their own caravans. To ensure that things go smoothly, Tommy brings George with him as protection. However, when the caravan they bought breaks down before they even get outside of the pikey compound, George is goaded into a fight with the pikey who sold them the caravan, Mickey (Brad Pitt). Mickey turns out to be a bare-boxing champion, who takes George down with one punch, suddenly putting Tommy and Turkish in a bad position of having to be in Brick Top's pocket.

Boris the Blade meets with Sol (Lennie James) asking him to rob the bookies, knowing that Franky will be there later that night. Sol gets his friend Vinnie (Robbie Gee) and Tyrone (Ade) to hold up the bookies. However, they immediately prove to be ludicrously incompetent. First, when they attempt to park the car, they wind up accidentally knocking Franky out, who was in the back of his van, changing into another outfit. Later, they spot a man who they think is Franky entering the bookies. Sol and Vinnie go in with their shotguns, attempting to rob the place - but not only is the man there not the man they were supposed to look out for, but the bookies don't have any money. Having lost Gorgeous George, Turkish and Tommy have to come up with a new boxer - Mickey (who is willing to do the other fight so Turkish will buy Mickey a new caravan for his mother). Since they switched fighters so close to the fight, "all bets are off" as the woman behind the counter tells Sol and Vinnie. On their way out the door, Sol and Vinnie take off their masks - in full view of a security camera - before being let out by Tyrone. Before they leave, they spot Franky stumbling out of the van and kidnap him.

Avi, meanwhile, flies out to London when he finds out that Franky is running late, and is probably at the underground boxing match. When they don't find Franky at the boxing match, Avi takes the advice of Doug's twin daughters to hire Bullet-Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) (who got his name after getting shot 6 times, killing the man who shot him, and having the removed bullets placed on his tooth.) Boris, meanwhile, approaches Sol and Vinnie, who have found the 84-carat diamond in his briefcase. Because they mentioned Boris' name in front of Franky (who was tied up in an adjacent room), Boris shoots Franky in the head. Since Sol put the diamond back in Franky's case and because the only man who knew the combination was dead, Boris chops Franky's hand off. He then gives them £10,000 for their troubles, warns them that he doesn't want to see them again, and leaves with the case attached to Franky's arm.

At the fight, Mickey is supposed to take a dive in the fourth round (to supply Brick Top's associates with bets they'll win). However, Mickey takes the other fighter down in the first round - again, with one punch - putting Turkish and Tommy further in Brick Top's debt. When Turkish goes home to get his stash of cash to leave the country, he's stopped by Brick Top. Brick Top tells Turkish that Mickey should get into another fight in a couple of days, and confiscates his savings to compensate for his lost earnings . Turkish and Tommy approach Mickey, who makes a bet with Turkish during coursing - win the bet, and Mickey will do the fight. Lose, and Turkish has to buy them a larger caravan. Turkish loses. Brick Top meanwhile reviews the tape of the robbery at his bookies with John and Errol, who are unable to identify Sol and Vinnie until they see Tyrone. Brick Top's men grab Tyrone, who threaten him with a pack of dogs to give up Sol and Vinnie. After illustrating to them how they'll be fed to pigs unless they co-operate, Brick Top manages to convince Sol and Vinnie to get him the diamond in exchange for their lives.

When Turkish tells Brick Top that Mickey doesn't want to do the fight, Brick Top has his men destroy Turkish's arcade, and burn Mickey's mother's caravan - while she was inside it. Turkish is saved from Brick Top's men by Tommy, and then meet up with Mickey, who tells them that he'll do the fight before anyone else is hurt.

Still looking for Sol and Vinnie are Bullet-Tooth and Avi. They find Sol at his pawnshop, and find out that Boris has the diamond they're looking for. Thinking that they're at a dead end, they are saved when Boris comes to Doug's shop, attempting to sell the diamond. After an implied scene which results in grievious bodily harm to Rosebud (Avi's accomplice), Avi and Bullet-Tooth tie up Boris and bring him back to Boris' house, getting the diamond. Tyrone, meanwhile has watched Boris' house, and told Sol and Vinnie about Boris. Sol and Vinnie follow Avi and Bullet-Tooth behind them.

A series of intercutting scenes then follows - it is at this single point in the plot that the characters unknowingly meet. Tommy and Turkish are riding back from the pikey campsite towards Boris' house (Tommy wants to get a new gun, since the one Boris sold him doesn't work), when Tommy throws Turkish's milk out the window (Tommy tells Turkish that he is doing him a favour, since cows have only in the last few thousand years been domesticated, and milk is not healthy for a person). The milk lands on the windshield of Bullet-Tooth's car, which causes him to crash (and also results in Rosebud being impaled by the sword he was holding). Boris escapes from the car, but is run over by Tyrone, Sol and Vinnie. Boris then manages to get his mask off and makes his way back to his house, procuring a large rifle from his stash. He then goes off in search of Bullet-Tooth and Avi, who have escaped the curious crowd of people following the crash to clean up and have a drink at a nearby pub.

Sol, Vinnie and Tyrone follow them to the pub; however, when they confront Bullet-Tooth, he precisely points out that the guns they brought with them are replicas, while he has a real gun (a Desert Eagle .50) . On their way out, Sol, Vinnie and Tyrone discover Avi, who was coming out of the bathroom. Boris then comes in from the other door. All of them demand the diamond from Avi, who refuses to give the diamond up and even dares them to shoot him. Sensing trouble, Tony signals Avi to duck (by saying "pull your socks up!!") then fires into the hallway, shooting Boris and Tyrone. Sol and Vinnie grab Avi's briefcase and make a quick getaway. Tony then questions Tyrone where Sol and Vinnie went while shooting at Boris, who refuses to die until Tony's last, well-aimed shot. Then, Tony turns the gun on Tyrone but the gun is empty, to which he exclaims about Tyrone's luck and leaves the scene.

Sol and Vinnie are ready to give the diamond to Brick Top, but are followed by Bullet-Tooth. They tell him that the diamond is back at the pawnshop. When they get back, they reluctantly produce the diamond to Avi. However, Vinnie's dog (which he got from the same pikeys that Turkish and Tommy had earlier dealt with) swallows the diamond, runs around and jumps out the window. Avi grabs Tony's gun and fires wildly at the dog, but instead fatally shoots Bullet-Tooth. Disgusted with the whole situation, Avi gets on the next flight back to New York. Sol and Vinnie speculate that the dog ran back to the pikey campsite. They then decide to first get rid of Franky's and Tony's bodies, putting them in the back of their car.

Turkish and Tommy then confront a clearly hung-over Mickey, who drank a large amount of alcohol at the wake for his mother. In the back of the hall where the fight will take place, Brick Top tells his men to shoot Turkish, Tommy and Mickey if they run out ahead of him. Brick Top also has men waiting at the gypsy campsite, ready to torch the campsite if Mickey doesn't do what Brick Top wants.

At the fight, Mickey appears to follow orders, putting up enough of a fight to make it to the fourth round, where he's knocked down by the other fighter. However, before he's counted out, Mickey gets up and knocks the other fighter out. Turkish and Tommy hustle Mickey out the back door, where it looks like they're about to be shot by Brick Top and his men. However, that's not quite the case...

In a series of scenes, it's shown that Mickey hadn't taken the death of his mother quite lightly and that he had prepared for revenge beforehand. The gypsies wind up killing all of Brick Top's men at the campsite before the fight is even over, and some other gypsies kill Brick Top's men in front of the building where the boxing match is taking place. When Brick Top tries to get a gun, he and his right-hand man Errol are shot by the other gypsies in the car. It is soon revealed that Mickey put down money on himself all along, and that was the reason why he never went down during a fight.

The next day, worse off than they were before, Turkish and Tommy see that the gypsy campsite is now vacant. When approached by police who are investigating what happened, they come across the dog who swallowed the diamond, giving them an excuse why they're there (walking the dog). The police, meanwhile, stop Sol and Vinnie, who recognise the dog being driven away - but can't do anything, as the two bodies in the trunk are found. Turkish and Tommy take the dog to a vet, since the dog had previously swallowed a squeaky toy while Vinnie was taking care of him. Having found the diamond in the dog's stomach, they go to someone they feel can buy the diamond from them - Doug the Head, who then calls Avi, who then quickly makes his way to London. The last image is of a passport being stamped with "The End".

[edit] Character Outcomes

Character	Actor	Status	Explanation
Turkish	Jason Statham	Alive	'Accidentally' finds the diamond and sells it to Doug and Avi.
Tommy	Stephen Graham	Alive	Gains a dog, and alongside Turkish, finds the diamond in the dog.
Gorgeous George	Adam Fogerty	Alive but injured	Broken jaw (gained early on in film by Mickey)
Mickey O'Neil	Brad Pitt	Alive but flees	His Gypsy friends have just killed Brick Top, Errol and his hit squad
Darren (Mickey's Friend)	Jason Flemyng	Alive but flees	See Mickey
Ms. O'Neil (Mickey's Mother)	Sorcha Cusack	Dead	Errol and John burn her alive in her own caravan to try to get Mickey to fight for free (Mickey wanted a caravan for his mom so he would fight, Brick Top had her killed so he didn't have a mom to give a caravan to)
Boris The Blade/Boris The Bullet-Dodger	Rade Šerbedžija	Dead??	Killed in the Drowning Trout (pub) by BT-Tony (ironically, he is shot dead)
Sol/Solomon	Lennie James	Arrested	The bodies of BT-Tony and Franky Four Fingers are found in their car by the police
Vinnie/Vincent	Robbie Gee	Arrested	See Sol/Solomon
Tyrone	Ade	Unknown, Presumably Alive or Arrested	Last seen at the Drowning Trout (pub), after BT-Tony doesn't shoot him (he has run out of ammo, calling him a 'Lucky Bastard')
Bad Boy Lincoln	Goldie	Unknown, Presumably Alive	Last seen in Brick Top's meat locker, but he is allowed to leave
Doug The Head	Mike Reid	Alive	Turkish & Tommy bring the diamond to him, and he sells it to Avi
Cousin Avi	Dennis Farina	Alive	Gets the diamond, as planned (in the end)
Franky Four-Fingers	Benicio del Toro	Dead	Killed by Boris the Blade, briefcase containing diamond stolen
Bullet-Tooth Tony	Vinnie Jones	Dead/Incapacitated	Shot by Avi accidentally (who is aiming at Vinnie's dog (who has eaten the diamond))
Brick Top	Alan Ford	Dead	Killed by Mickey's Gypsy friends in retaliation for killing Mickey's Mother, after the bareknuckle boxing match
Errol	Andy Beckwith	Dead	Killed alongside Brick Top
John	David Legeno	Unknown, Presumably Dead	Last seen kidnapping Tyrone alongside Errol, not in Brick Tops limo or with hit squad at bareknuckle boxing match

[edit] Reaction

Snatch was largely successful, both in critical acclaim and at the box office. From an estimated budget of $10 000 000 (according to the Internet Movie Database), the movie grossed a total of $30,093,107 in the United States and £12,137,698 in the United Kingdom [1]. The website Rotten Tomatoes lists Snatch as having 73% of the reviews (120 reviews listed in total) as being "fresh" (positive)[2], and as of March 2007 the Internet Movie Database ranks it at #190 of their 250 most popular movies as voted by regular users [3].

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 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?" [4], and writing in the New York Times Elvis Mitchell commented that "Mr. Ritchie seems to be stepping backward when he should be moving ahead" [5]. 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" [6]. The lack of prominent female characters was also commented upon by many reviewers.

[edit] Overview

Snatch is a dark comedy of errors, in which most of the humor results from accidents, ironic coincidences and bad luck. It is marked by frequent use of irony and causality - the actions of a character (or characters) will frequently have unexpected (and even unintended or unknown) consequences for other characters whom they may not even be aware of. Much of the plot depends of unfortunate circumstances for the characters stemming from the actions of others who may not even be aware of the effect of their actions or even the people to whom they are having an effect on. A notable example of this is the "bottle of milk" scene, in which Tommy, citing the unhealthiness of dairy products and insisting that he is doing Turkish a favour, tosses Turkish's bottle of milk out of a car window; far from being a beneficiary act, however, this in fact causes Tony's car to crash, releasing Boris from the boot, which causes Sol and Vinnie's car to crash - a chain of circumstances involving people and actions that neither Tommy nor Turkish intend or are even aware of. Almost all of the characters cross the path of the other characters at some point in the movie, whether intentionally or not.

It is also notable that the film's ending relies heavily on irony and this chain of circumstance and interconnection. After the diamond has switched hands numerous times, more often than not bringing terrible luck, unpleasant ends or both for those who were desperately searching for it, it eventually transpires that Tommy and Turkish - two of the only characters in the film who were completely unaware of the diamond's existence and were not looking for it at all - eventually possess and presumably benefit from the diamond.

Another theme of the movie lies in its cyclic nature and its playing with time and spatial perceptions. It begins and ends with the same scene (Turkish and Tommy attempting to sell the 86 carat (17.2 g) diamond to Doug the Head), which reveals that the entire movie is largely a flashback. Certain sequences - such as Avi's flying sequence, which illustrates in quick-shot the entire journey made by Avi from New York to London and back through use of split-second shots of London and New York taxis, a passport being stamped and a Concorde in flight - are repeated, as are lines of dialogue and character descriptions (such as the term "sneaky fucking Russian" to describe Boris).

In order to quicken the pace of the movie and remove as much material that is not central to plot or the comedy as much as possible (as a described aim of Richie's was to make a film with "no fat on it,"), the movie frequently plays with the perception of the passage of time - Abrupt cuts will take place between scenes (and sometimes during scenes, with characters occasionally changing clothing and location several times within space of a single conversation) in order to quickly show the passage of time; a notable example of this is the confrontation between Boris and the trio of Avi, Rosebud and Tony; whilst the actual fight is not shown, the action abruptly cuts from the trio preparing to ambush Boris to some time later, with the three clearly the worse for wear as a result of their encounter. In order to contrast with what is happening, events occurring in the past, or obviously taking place over an extended period of time, will also be shown parallel to events which take mere moments or minutes; this is demonstrated through the scene in which Turkish, Tommy, and Mickey are coursing the rabbits, which is shown in direct contrast to the scene of Tyrone being captured by Brick Top's men and brought before Brick Top. A series of quick cuts between both scenes take place; however, whereas the scene with Turkish, Tommy and Mickey takes place over a matter of minutes (being merely the length of time it takes for a pair of dogs to chase a rabbit), it is apparent from the changing of locations, situations and characters that the scenes with Tyrone take place over a much longer period of time.

Additionally, Snatch employs the use of theme music for certain characters as a method of introducing them. Turkish is usually preceded by a light, jazzy theme (The Herbaliser's "Sensual Woman"); Boris the Blade's theme music sounds like traditional Russian folk; Mickey is introduced by brass-heavy Gypsy-style music; and Avi is sometimes shown to music from the soundtrack of "Get Shorty" (Ritchie stated his admiration for that film led him to cast Farina, who played a mobster in it). While most of the theme music occurs at the same moment the character appears, it occasionally is used to give the viewer clues as to who is about to resurface. For instance, when Turkish stands up to say "Let's use the fucking pikey", Mickey's theme music begins to play in the background before he speaks, indicating pre-emptively that the character is about to re-enter the storyline.

The film has several sections where many hours go by and incidents are implied but not shown, noticeably the confrontation between Avi's accomplice 'Rosebud' and Boris the Blade, as well as the resulting kidnapping of Boris by Tony and Avi. Additionally, there are scenes in which previous interactions among the different characters are inferred, (such as Brick Top's henchman, Errol recognising Tyrone from the security footage, and Bullet-Tooth Tony's past relationship with Mullet), and are used to further drive the plot, but are otherwise unexplained.

[edit] Trivia

• DJ Goldie has a few lines in the film, as Bad Boy Lincoln, a yardie trying to pawn items to Vinnie and Sol and then trying to help them get rid of Franky's body.
• In two scenes with Bullet Tooth Tony (the flashback scene and the scene with Avi and Mullet), the song Lucky Star by Madonna can be heard. Madonna is, in fact, Guy Ritchie's wife.
• When Bullet Tooth Tony is introduced in the film, he is seen slamming a car door against a gangster's head. Vinnie Jones's character in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels did the same thing at the end of that movie.
• Writer-director Guy Ritchie originally had planned to work another plot twist into the film, involving a false diamond that resembles the 86 carat (17.2 g) diamond. However, he eventually decided that the subplot was unnecessary, and all the scenes involving this were cut from the final cut of the movie. Most of the cut scenes can be seen as extras of the DVD of the film; among them is a scene in which Tony, Avi and Brick Top — who do not encounter each other in the final cut — attempt to negotiate for the diamond.
• Ade, the actor who played Tyrone had originally shown up looking for work as a security guard. Ritchie stated that they told him they had a job for him in the film, rather than on the set.
• In the beginning of the film, the diamond is referred to as weighing 86 carats (17.2 g), while later on, it is mentioned that the stone is 82 or 84 carats (16.4 or 16.8 g).
• In a scene following the aftermath of the climactic series of car crashes, numerous Indian women are shown looking curiously into one of the cars. Ritchie has stated this occurred because he felt Indian women didn't get seen much in mainstream films (as well as stating that he was "quite keen" on Indian women).
• An accent teacher was employed purely to help Brad Pitt (Mickey) speak "Pikey".
• In 2006, a Chinese film titled "疯狂石头" (Crazy Stone) was released, and appears to be very much based on Snatch. Examples include frequent use of fast cuts, several groups vying for the same McGuffin (in this case, a precious jade artifact), as well as the robbers-living-next-door element from Ritchie's other film of note, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
• The film tops NO. 57 on the list of films that most frequently use the word "fuck" with a total of 159 uses of the word.
• In Ljubljana, Slovenia, there is a pub, dedicated to this movie: Snatch Pub

[edit] References

1. Box office details for Snatch

2. Snatch at 'Rotten Tomatoes'

3. IMDb - Top 250 chart

4. Ebert's review of Snatch

5. New York Times review of Snatch

[edit] External links

• Snatch at the Internet Movie Database
• Snatchweb.com Sound files from the film