“Snitch” boils down America’s War on Drugs™ to a family drama, focusing on one muscle-bound man’s determination to wrestle a deal from a hard-nosed US Attorney and free his son from jail.
The Rock… er… Dwayne Johnson is John Matthews, owner of a successful construction company and estranged father to Jason (Rafi Gavron). Jason falls into a Kafka-esque legal loophole when his drug-dealing best friend implicates him as a trafficker in return for a break on jail time. Under America’s strict War on Drugs™ laws Jason is facing a mandatory ten-year sentence unless he gives up the name of a co-conspirator but because he’s innocent he has no one to snitch on. Enter John who gets the action underway when he asks the US Attorney (Susan Sarandon), “What if I do it for him? What if I help you make arrests?” Cue the cage match between The Rock and assorted drug dealers (including “The Wire’s” Omar, Michael Kenneth Williams).
Snitch isn’t a bad movie, but it is a miscast one. As charismatic as Johnson is, his physicality gets in the way here. The character is a determined regular Joe; a father willing to go to any lengths to help his son, but how much more effective would this story have been if he didn’t resemble a cop who could crash the drug dealers he’s working with between his muscular thumb and forefinger?
Imagine the part played by an actor who doesn’t look like a superhero. As someone whose fatherly instincts kick in when his son is at risk and you’d have a believable core to the story. While John’s concern for his son seems genuine enough, with his shaved head, goatee and bulging muscles Johnson is a bit too much of a mountain of a man to pull off the meek act he tries with the drug dealers. Looking like The Rock works against him here.
“Snitch” is a hybrid of message film and thriller. The message is a bit muddled, but the idea seems to be that the War on Drugs™ needs to find a new plan of attack. Maybe if there’s a sequel Johnson could play a General in the War on Drugs™. Dress him up like a soldier and send him off to hunt down cartel kingpins. Now that’s a part I could see him playing.
SYNOPSIS: Dwayne Johnson is John Matthews, owner of a successful construction company and estranged father to Jason (Rafi Gavron). Jason falls into a Kafka-esque legal loophole when his drug-dealing best friend implicates him as a trafficker in return for a break on jail time. Under America’s strict War on Drugs™ laws Jason is facing a mandatory ten-year sentence unless he gives up the name of a co-conspirator but because he’s innocent he has no one to snitch on. Enter John who gets the action underway when he says to the US Attorney (Susan Sarandon), “What if I do it for him? What if I help you make arrests?” Cue the cage match between The Rock and assorted drug dealers.
Star Ratings:
Richard: 2 ½ Stars
Mark: 3 Stars
Richard: Mark, Snitch isn’t a bad movie, but it is a miscast one. As charismatic as The Rock… er… Johnson is, his physicality gets in the way. The character is a determined regular Joe willing to go to any lengths to help his son. But how much more effective would it have been if he didn’t resemble a cop who could crash the drug dealers he’s working with between his muscular thumb and forefinger?
Mark: I wouldn’t say it was miscast, but that it was too obviously cast. Your idea of casting against type, as an everyman rather than an action hero, is a tantalizing one. I’m imagining how much more interesting a movie it would be with, say, Ryan Gosling, or even Paul Giamatti. The real question, however, is: When Susan Sarandon and Barry Pepper are support characters in a Dwayne Johnson movie, is this one of the signs of the apocalypse?
RC: Ha! I thought Pepper was OK but you could almost see Sarandon reaching for the pay cheque. She has seven movies coning out this year, and seems to have wedged this one in as she ran from set to set. Perhaps the movie’s message that the War on Drugs™ needs to find a new plan of attack appealed to her but she’s playing this one as a character straight out of Central Casting. What did you think of Jon Bernthal as the ex-con who gives The Rock a hand. Loved him on The Walking Dead and thought he was one of the best things about this movie, even if the conclusion to his story was far fetched.
MB: Well, he was the only one in the movie who brought an element of surprise to his scenes. As far as the story goes, I liked the premise, but I thought the storytelling was kind of sloppy and sometimes it felt like scenes were missing. The violence was restrained for this kind of movie, and I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. And the villains barely registered. They were mostly nasty in theory.
RC: I found the lack of violence refreshing. Given the name, the star and the idea you might have expected this to be a shoot ‘em up, and it isn’t. It’s a father and son story with a twist.
“Snitch” boils down America’s War on Drugs™ to a family drama, focusing on one muscle-bound man’s determination to wrestle a deal from a hard-nosed US Attorney and free his son from jail.
