Snatch. (2000)

Director:

Guy Ritchie

Writer:

Guy Ritchie (written by)

Release Date:

19 January 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Stealin' Stones and Breakin' Bones

Plot:

Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.

Plot Keywords:

Diamond | Boxing | Gypsy | Dog | Diamond Theft

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jason Statham	...	Turkish
Benicio Del Toro	...	Franky Four Fingers
Brad Pitt	...	Mickey O'Neil
Alan Ford	...	Brick Top
Stephen Graham	...	Tommy
Dennis Farina	...	'Cousin' Avi Denovitz
Rade Serbedzija	...	Boris 'The Blade' Yurinov (as Rade Sherbedgia)
Mike Reid	...	Doug 'The Head' Denovitz
Charles Cork	...	MC
Robbie Gee	...	Vinny
Lennie James	...	Sol
Vinnie Jones	...	Bullet Tooth Tony
Jason Flemyng	...	Darren
Ade	...	Tyrone
William Beck	...	Neil

Also Known As:

Diamonds (USA) (working title)
Lock, Stock... and Six Stolen Diamonds (UK) (working title)
Snatch (UK) (alternative spelling)
Snatch'd (USA) (working title)
The Guy Ritchie Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and some nudity.

Runtime:

104 min | USA:102 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:M18 (uncut) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Iceland:16 | USA:R (NO. 37533) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Greece:K-17 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Mexico:B | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG (censored version) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Jester's Amusement Arcade, West Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Guy Ritchie]In the back of the bar when we are first introduced to Doug The Head. Ritchie is the man reading the newspaper.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Mickey's mum's funeral, Turkish slaps Mickey to wake him up. There is a slapping sound before he is actually slapped.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Turkish: [narrating] My name is Turkish. Funny name for an Englishman, I know. My parents to be were on the same plane when it crashed. That's how they met. They named me after the name of the plane. Not many people are named after a plane crash. That's Tommy. He tells people he was named after a gun, but I know he was really named after a famous 19th century ballet dancer.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Will & Grace: Sons and Lovers (#3.22)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

LUCKY STAR

Subtitles A Must To Really Enjoy This

I would imagine viewers would either really love this movie or be totally turned off. It is presented in a different format for its time (since copied), has very odd and profane characters, accents that are difficult to understand, and tells an unpleasant story with some disgusting scenes. So, why do I enjoy this film, being an old-fashioned so-and-so?

Well, because I usually enjoy "stylish" film-making and dark humor and this has both in abundance. This is almost as stylish as it gets: fascinating visuals, odd camera angles and various tricks, sound effects, etc. Most of the characters in this bizarre crime film have colorful nicknames and most speak in a strong British accent. A gypsy, played by American Brad Pitt, is almost intelligible.

This is why I strongly recommend you use English subtitles while watching this film, at least for the first viewing, or you will totally lost. The DVD offers a feature I've never seen before: the option of using subtitles solely for Pitt's character. The filmmakers knew few people were going to understand Pitt's weird way of speaking. Anyway, I recommend the subtitles for everyone. It makes the film more enjoyable when you know what's going on, especially with the many slang terms used in here that have to be totally foreign to most viewers outside GB.

Since the action changes every two minutes to another scene with other people (Lord of The Rings subsequently did the same), it's had to get lulled to sleep or have your mind wander. Something wacky is going on every few minutes. The attitudes of the criminals are rough: these are low-life people in the underworld: extremely tough people with the toughest being "Bricktop" (Alan Ford) who likes to feed people to the pigs. There are a ton of f-words in here, too.

The disjointed story is not easy to follow and I found I needed several viewings to understand everything that was going on. The characters are so strange, so cartoon-like, that - combined with the unique visuals - it makes it a fascinating film to watch every time. Some of these actors were fairly unknown at the time of this release , at least here in the States, such as Jason Statham ("The Transporter") but we know them know. There is a good mix of young and old actors in here.

This is a guy's movie with the top dozen actors in this film all tough-talking, almost-crude men (plus a funny dog). It's so weird, I'll just end with the cliché that "this is not for all tastes" but if you enjoy dark humor and something totally different, you might want to give it a shot. Just remember to turn on the subtitles.