Snatch (film)

Snatch
UK Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Guy Ritchie
Produced by	Matthew Vaughn
Written by	Guy Ritchie
Starring	Benicio del Toro Dennis Farina Vinnie Jones Brad Pitt Rade Šerbedžija Jason Statham
Music by	John Murphy
Cinematography	Tim Maurice-Jones
Editing by	Jon Harris
Studio	SKA Films
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (UK) Screen Gems (USA)
Release dates	23 August 2000 (2000-08-23) (United Kingdom) 19 January 2001 (2001-01-19) (United States)
Running time	104 minutes (UK) 102 minutes (USA)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000
Box office	$83,557,872[1]

Snatch is a 2000 British comedy-crime film written and directed by filmmaker Guy Ritchie, 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 ruthless gangster known as Brick Top (Alan Ford).

The film features an assortment of colourful characters, including Irish Traveller Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt), arms-dealer Boris "the Blade" Yurinov (Rade Šerbedžija), professional thief and gambling addict Franky "Four-Fingers" (Benicio del Toro), American gangster-jeweller "Cousin Avi" (Dennis Farina), 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 themes, ideas and motifs with 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 Jones, Statham, and Ford.

Plot

After stealing an 84-carat (16.8 g) diamond in a heist in Antwerp, Franky "Four-Fingers" goes to London to deliver it to diamond dealer Doug "The Head" on behalf of New York jeweller "Cousin Avi". One of the other robbers advises Franky to obtain a gun from ex-KGB agent Boris "The Blade". Unbeknownst to Franky, Boris and the robber are brothers and plan to steal the diamond.

Meanwhile, boxing promoter and slot machine shop owner Turkish convinces gangster "Brick Top" to add the boxer "Gorgeous George" to the bets at Brick Top's bookies. However, when Turkish sends his partner Tommy and Gorgeous George to purchase a caravan from a group of pikeys, George gets into a fight with Mickey O'Neil, a bare-knuckle boxing champion who badly injures George. Turkish convinces Mickey to replace George in his upcoming match by agreeing to purchase a new caravan for Mickey's mother. Brick Top agrees to the change on the condition that Mickey throws the fight in the fourth round.

Boris gives Franky a gun in exchange for a favour: Franky is to place a bet on Boris' behalf at Brick Top's bookies. Avi, knowing Franky has a gambling problem, flies to London with his bodyguard "Rosebud" to claim the diamond. Boris hires Vinny and Sol, two small-time crooks, to rob Franky while he is at the bookies. The robbery goes awry and Sol, Vinny, and their driver Tyrone are caught on-camera, but manage to kidnap Franky.

Instead of throwing the fight, Mickey knocks his opponent out with a single punch. Infuriated, Brick Top robs Turkish of his savings and demands that Mickey fight again, and lose this time. Meanwhile, Boris retrieves the diamond and executes Franky. As Sol, Vinny, Tyrone, and "Bad Boy" Lincoln are trying to decide how to dispose of Franky's body, Brick Top arrives to execute them for robbing his bookies. Sol bargains for their lives by promising Brick Top the stolen diamond, and is given 48 hours to retrieve it.

Avi and Doug hire "Bullet-Tooth" Tony to help them find Franky. When the trail leads to Boris, they kidnap him and retrieve the diamond, closely pursued by Sol, Vinny, and Tyrone. As they are driving, Tommy throws Turkish's carton of milk out their car window; it splashes over Tony's windscreen, causing him to crash. Boris escapes from the wreck only to be hit by Tyrone's car. Tony and Avi are confronted by Sol, Vinny, and Tyrone at a pub where Tony realizes that their pistols are replicas, and intimidates them into leaving. The wounded Boris arrives with an assault rifle and is killed by Tony, but Sol and Vinny escape with the diamond, which Vinny hides in his pants. When Tony catches up to them, they tell him that the diamond is back at their pawn shop. Once there, they produce the diamond, but it is promptly swallowed by a dog that Vinny got from the pikeys. Avi fires at the fleeing dog and accidentally kills Tony. He gives up and returns to New York.

Mickey refuses to fight again unless Turkish buys a better caravan for his mother, but Turkish has no money left. Furious, Brick Top has his men vandalize Turkish's gambling arcade and burn down Mickey's mother's caravan while she is asleep inside. Mickey agrees to fight in order to avoid more carnage, but gets so drunk after his mother's wake that Turkish fears he will not make it to the fourth round. If he fails to go down as agreed, Brick Top's men will execute Turkish, Tommy, Mickey, and the entire campsite of pikeys. Mickey makes it to the fourth round, when he suddenly knocks out his opponent. Outside the arena, Brick Top is killed by the pikeys. Mickey has bet on himself to win, and waited until the fourth round to allow the pikeys time to ambush and kill Brick Top's men at the campsite.

The next morning, Turkish and Tommy find the pikey campsite deserted. When confronted by the police, they cannot explain why they are there, until Vinny's dog suddenly arrives and they claim to be walking it. Sol and Vinny are arrested when the police find Franky and Tony's bodies in their car. Turkish and Tommy take the dog to a veterinarian to extract a squeaky toy that it had swallowed, and discover the diamond in its stomach as well. They consult Doug about selling the diamond, and he calls Avi, who returns to London.

Cast

• Jason Statham as Turkish, a promoter for unlicensed boxers.
• Stephen Graham as Tommy, Turkish's business partner.
• Alan Ford as Brick Top, a ruthless crime boss.
• Dennis Farina as Abraham "Cousin Avi" Denovitz, an American jewel dealer who arranges a diamond heist in Antwerp.
• Brad Pitt as Mickey O'Neil, a careless gypsy chief and unlicensed boxer.
• Adam Fogerty as Gorgeous George, Turkish's unlicensed boxer
• Mike Reid as Doug The Head, a jewel dealer running a diamond shop.
• Vinnie Jones as Bullet Tooth Tony, a mercenary, debt collector, and gun-for-hire.
• Robbie Gee as Vinny, a small-time pawn shop owner.
• Lennie James as Sol, Vinny's partner.
• Ade as Tyrone, Sol & Vinny's driver.
• Rade Šerbedžija as Boris The Blade, an ex-KGB Uzbek arms dealer.
• Benicio del Toro as Franky "Four-Fingers", Avi's assistant.
• Jason Flemyng as Darren, Mickey's gypsy friend
• Ewen Bremner as Mullet

Soundtrack

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

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

1. "Diamond" - Klint
2. "Vere Iz da Storn?" - Benicio del Toro
3. "Supermoves" - Overseer
4. "Hernando's Hideaway" - The Johnston Brothers
5. "Zee Germans" - Jason Statham
6. "Golden Brown" - The Stranglers
7. "Dreadlock Holiday" - 10cc
8. "Hava Nagila" - John Murphy and Daniel L. Griffiths
9. "Avi Arrives" - Dennis Farina
10. "Cross The Track (We Better Go Back)" - Maceo & the Macks
11. "Disco Science" - Mirwais
12. "Nemesis" - Alan Ford
13. "Hot Pants (I'm Coming, Coming, I'm Coming)" - Bobby Byrd
14. "Lucky Star" - Madonna
15. "Come Again!" - Alan Ford
16. "Ghost Town" - The Specials
17. "Shrinking Balls" - Vinnie Jones
18. "Sensual Woman" - The Herbaliser
19. "Angel" - Massive Attack
20. "RRRR...Rumble" - Charles Cork
21. "Fuckin' in the Bushes" - Oasis
22. "Avi's Declaration" - Dennis Farina
23. "Don't You Just Know It" - Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns

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 £12,137,698 in the United Kingdom and $30,093,107 in the United States.^[3] Rotten Tomatoes lists Snatch as having 73% of the reviews (133 reviews listed in total) as being "fresh" (positive).^[4]

Snatch also appears on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time at number 466.^[5]

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?",^[6] and writing in the New York Times Elvis Mitchell commented that "Mr. Ritchie seems to be stepping backward when he should be moving ahead".^[7] 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] Movie Room Reviews gave the movie four stars and said "there is no movie quite like it".^[8]

DVD releases

The film has been released in multiple incarnations on DVD.

On 3 July 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 3 June 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, omitting the second disc.

Deluxe edition error

On 3 January 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.^[9]

See also

• Hyperlink cinema — the film style of using multiple inter-connected story lines

Notes

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Snatch (film)

• Snatch. at the Internet Movie Database
• Snatch. at allmovie
• Snatch at Box Office Mojo