Snitch (2013)

User Review

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  TheMovieDiorama

  6 / 10

  Snitch tackles the subject of the current war on drugs but stumbles in basic storytelling. The poster and marketing made you believe this was an action film, they were wrong. You thought there would be enough thrills to have this classed as a thriller, think again. Not powerful enough to be deemed a drama, so the question is: what is Snitch? It's serviceable, whatever genre you class it as. A father's son is set up for distributing narcotics. Unwilling to snitch on his friends, his father steps up and decides to take out the local drug cartel that the DEA have been pursuing. The ever so popular story of "how far will you go to save your own family". Surprisingly, this moody affair packs a punch and there are a few quality elements to take away from this. The acting, overall, was pretty damn good. Dwayne Johnson gives a thoughtful performance with some hefty emotional weight. Everything his character does, says or thinks about is all for the love of his family. Even if that means putting himself in danger, which is always commendable to watch. Jon Bernthal supports Johnson's emotions by playing the jaded and experienced ex-con who unknowingly is dragged into being an informant. The two had great on screen chemistry. Also want to comment on Barry Pepper's facial hair. I want it. I counted two small action scenes, a shootout and a lorry chase sequence. I liked the minimal amount of action, it made the story feel real. Unfortunately quite a few quick cuts and constant zooming in made the scenes rather tedious. The narrative's downfall is the lack of compelling dialogue. Due to the limited action and thrills, it's heavily focused on the plot and characters. When both of these underdeveloped and basic, it lacks the punch required in order to elevate the film from being "yeah that was ok" to "wow, I need to watch that again". It's all too safe. Casting Johnson was clearly a smart move, if they didn't this familiar story would've crashed and burned. A personal story on an intimidating subject matter makes for a moody "action thriller".

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