“Happy free Slurpee day!
Another one that I just sort of love. No big connection to it. Well, for the most part. One of the things that is endearing about this film is that it’s something I bonded over with one of my besties way back when. It doesn’t come up so often anymore, but time was when we’d quote this movie all day long. Antecdote time! A few years ago, me and said bestie are playing Catch Phrase with some friends backstage at a show. He gets a word that he’s convinced he can get me to guess. “”*mumbles*’s movie?”” “”What?”” “”*mumbled name*’s movie?”” “”I cant understand you”” “”What’s that gun doing in your trousers?”” “”Jason Statham!”” “”Yeah, the movie”” “”Snatch”” “”No the other one”” “”Lock, Stock”” “”No, the new one”” “”Layer Cake? (the new Guy Ritchie at the time)”” “”No _his_ movie”” “”Oh Transporter!”” “”Yeah…\m/ that’s not the word”” It was trainspotting.
What I love about Snatch is that it’s a perfect combination of quirky characters and droll dialogue, expertly executed by a cunning cast. Top of the list is Brad Pitt’s unintelligible pikey Mickey. Steals every scene he’s in. There’s a setting on the DVD that only adds subtitles when he’s speaking, and half the time it just prints a big question mark.
Besides Mickey, I rather like Turkish and Tommy, played by Jason Statham and Stephen Graham respectively. Turkish is our narrator and Tommy is his lovable but not too bright sidekick. Then you’ve got Vinnie Jones as Bullet Tooth Tony and a plethora of other wonderful people.
I think that you can only get one good serious gangster/underworld move per decade. Godfather in the 70’s, Goodfellas in the 90’s, The Departed most recently (Im not sure what I’d pick to represent the 80’s). Unless you’re incredibly talented and a little lucky, a comedic twist on the genre is the way you wanna go. Those tend to work way better, and Snatch is proof of that. But you dont wanna go full out slapstick, because then its just something else entirely, that’s probably crap. Just because its a somewhat lighter movie, doesnt mean you can’t have absolutely badass moments, like Bullet Tooth Tony’s speech.”