User blog:Porterfield/Snitch - Review Roundup



One thing is for certain, Snitch (in theaters today) is your typical Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson movie. Looking at his filmography, you will find family adventures ("Journey to the Center of the Earth", "Race to Witch Mountain", "Tooth Fairy", etc.), explosive action franchises ("G.I. Joe", "The Fast and the Furious", "The Mummy", etc.), and stand-alone action flops with generic names ("Faster", "The Rundown", "Walking Tall", etc.).

"Snitch" has a title like the latter films, but it's neither a family-friendly film nor a true explosive action movie, despite being centered around family and action. Top film critics have all highlighted the following points:
 * 1) Snitch features more slow character development than the action that fans of The Rock's films have come to expect. This is not an action movie. It's a movie about the legal system and protecting your family, with some action peppered in.
 * 2) The Rock's performance is good, and probably his personal best, despite him not being very believable as a homely contractor who can get beat up by scrappy drug dealers.
 * 3) If you have children, you will love this movie twice as much as those who don't.

The point I'd like to personally highlight is that the supporting cast in this film is phenomenal. As a fan of both "The Wire" and "The Walking Dead", the casting of Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar!) and Jon Bernthal (Shane...) is glorious. Throw in Susan Sarandon and Barry Pepper, and one would be livid if The Rock turned in a poor performance.

Check out the trailer and the reviews, and once you've seen the film, share your own reviews in the comments section below!

Rick Groen - Globe and Mail
Score: 3 out of 4

Excerpt: So far, under the brisk direction of Ric Roman Waugh, the dialogue has a credible ring of truth, as do the dark alleys of the city and the yellow hallways of the serpentine legal system. And still no action yet, just nervous talk and anxious looks. It’s the cinematic equivalent of the short declarative sentence – a no-nonsense style that gets the job done.

Colin Covert - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Score: 3 out of 4

Excerpt: “Snitch” is being marketed as a guns-blazing, bone-crunching exploitation movie, but it’s something more. The surprise of the film is that while it boasts tense, jittery camerawork and builds to a bombastic climax, it’s a serious drama about how a pragmatic man might handle himself in life-or-death circumstances.

===Claudia Puig - USA Today=== Score: 3 out of 4

Excerpt: Johnson is terrific, as he further matures as an actor. He's no action hero/one-man-army here. It's a far more nuanced performance than he's given before. Facing substantial danger, he plays a desperate dad who clearly gets in far beyond his capability. He may have an impressive physique and stalwart demeanor, but he's massively outgunned and no match for hardened criminals.

Stephen Witty - Newark Star-Ledger
Score: 2.5 out of 4

Excerpt: This is the sort of movie that Charles Bronson would have made back in the day, and indeed a shot of Johnson standing in a sporting goods store, contemplating a wall of shotguns as he gets ready to get busy, could have come from any "Death Wish." Except that scene comes more than an hour into this movie. Instead, "Snitch" prefers to spend much of its time developing its characters...

Michael O'Sullivan - Washington Post
Score: 2.5 out of 4

Excerpt: Neither a family-friendly comedy -- a genre that the wrestler-turned-actor seems to have in an inescapable head lock -- nor a flat-out action flick, “Snitch” requires little of its star other than a look of perpetual consternation. He is more than up to the task.

Betsy Sharkey - LA Times
Score: 2.5 out of 5

Excerpt: Though 18-wheelers and reckless driving are definitely involved, there is not nearly as much action as most fans of the increasingly polished Rock will be expecting. There is, however, a good bit of legalese being parsed. Maybe it should be called "Bait and Snitch."

Mick LaSalle - SF Chronicle
Score: 2 out of 4

Excerpt: "Snitch" is not the usual action movie. It's too odd for that. Based on a true story, it has the weirdness of real life, which is good. But also like real life, it has that funny way of not making much sense or being all that enjoyable.

Stephen Holden - New York Times
Score: 2.5 out of 5

Excerpt: But Mr. Johnson’s screen presence, however charismatic, is out of sync with the rest of the movie. Although he projects an anguished sincerity in the father-son scenes, he lacks in his performance the nuance that defines an ordinary mortal.

Richard Roeper - Chicago Sun-Times
Score: 2.5 out of 4

Excerpt: Who would have guessed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would deliver the best work of his career playing a guy who squares off against a pack of small-time street thugs — and winds up face down on the ground, his mug bloodied and his wallet gone.

Peter Howell - Toronto Star
Score: 2.5 out of 4

Excerpt: Fortunately, there’s bench strength beyond the bench presses. Michael K. Williams (TV’s The Wire) is scarily brilliant as El Topo’s street enforcer, although you almost need subtitles to understand what he’s saying. Jon Bernthal (TV’s The Walking Dead) is aces as the ex-con trucking firm employee who reluctantly helps Matthews penetrate the drug underworld.

Wikian Reviews
What did you think of Snitch? Loved it. It was okay. Hated it!