While Guy Ritchie does not always pull off winning films, like many other writers/directors of his caliber, he is not afraid to take risks, which more often than not payoff exponentially. Led by Jason Statham, Snatch, one of Ritchie’s earlier films, is also one of his best, and it’s only free to subscribers on Amazon Prime for 9 more days. Watch it before it’s gone.
Ritchie And Statham
Guy Ritchie is one of those filmmakers who loves to work with the same people, and it seems Jason Statham is among his favorites, and Snatch isn’t the only proof. Snatch is one among six films the two have worked on together (with Ritchie directing five of them) and it seems they simply cannot go wrong.
Guy Ritchie was just a fledgling writer and director, trying to get his first movie, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, pulled together. He met Jason Statham when Statham was a young model for French Connection, and Ritchie immediately knew he had the actor for his streetwise con-artist. Guy Ritchie would go on to direct Jason Statham in Snatch, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Wrath of Man, and Revolver.
Playing Against Type
Jason Statham’s best movies are those like Snatch, where he’s not necessarily a kick-ass fighter, like in Transporter, but instead an astute, quick-thinking guy from the streets willing to adapt and shift.
Jason Statham plays Turkish in Snatch–a boxing promoter trying to make a buck with his buddy Tommy. They’re essentially street thugs who end up caught in a crime ring the likes of which gets so twisted and turned around it can be hard to keep track of.
Turkish and Tommy have a guy, Gorgeous George, ready to box in a match against the boxer of a crime boss, Brick Top. The problem is, Gorgeous George is knocked out in one punch in a friendly fight with Mickey O’Neil, played by Brad Pitt.
Brad Pitt At His Best
It must be said that this role is one of the best you’ll ever see by Pitt. His character, Mickey, is speaks in an almost unintelligible manner. Pitt plays him so perfectly that you’ll forget you’ve ever seen him play Benjamin Button or Mr. Smith.
After a struggle to understand what’s happening, Jason Statham’s Turkish convinces Mickey to fight in place of Snatch‘s Gorgeous George. However, Mickey is supposed to throw the fight in the fourth round, and he doesn’t, which infuriates Brick Top, sending him on a rampage against Turkish, Tommy, and Mickey.
Dags
In the background of this entire escapade is a storyline about a stolen diamond, Jewish-American organized crime, and dogs, or, as Mickey says, “dags.”
The double plot of the film, with Jason Statham at the center of Snatch, keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next, who might be killed, and who will win in this race toward the diamond and away from Bricktop’s wrath.
Audiences Love It
The film received mostly positive reviews when it was released in 2000, and it has since made over $80 million against a $10 million budget. And while there are some critics who find this film too close to Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, it has acquired a devoted cult following, with audiences giving it a 93 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
There is just something deeply attractive about Jason Statham and Brad Pitt (and everyone else) in Snatch. I recommend you fire up your Prime account and stream it before it’s gone.
