Review of Snitch (2013) by Gerardistheway — 11 Nov 2016

There were a number of moments in this movie during which I was shaking my head due to their complete implausibility (one particular incident that comes to mind is a highway chase during which a man fires a shotgun one-handed out the window of an 18-wheeler truck while remaining in perfect control of the vehicle), but its quiet, intense handling of the subject matter and powerful performances are just enough to elevate it above typical action fare. Dwayne Johnson is always entertaining to watch on screen, but this was the first time (in a serious movie, at least) that I felt totally engrossed by one of his performances.

To me, Mr. Johnson is a criminally under-appreciated actor, especially considering he has no formal training as one: you could count his WWE theatrics as "acting experience", I suppose, but peers of his from that world (*cough cough* John Cena *cough cough*) have also attempted the transition with far less success. This tells me that his natural charisma and talent for the trade far outweighs his lack of experience (something that, unfortunately, the films he appears in tend to coast on due to lousy screenwriting and not-always-so-amiable co-stars), something I had suspected for a while but was finally confirmed with this film. As John Matthews, he isn't a bounty hunter, or a CIA/Special Forces operative with a tortured past, or a Diplomatic Security Services agent firing a minigun in the middle of a city street (*cough cough* Fast and Furious *cough cough*)--he is an ordinary man caught up in an extraordinary situation (the movie also understands that even for someone with muscles on their muscles, four on one is a tough fight).

John's estranged teenage son Jason (Rafi Gavron; also, three cheers for the overused plot point!) is somehow convinced by a friend to take possession of a huge bag of drugs for the weekend, only to promptly be arrested in a DEA sting operation. With a minimum sentence of 10 years, the overeager district attorney (Susan Sarandon) informs John that the only way to spare Jason the prison life already taking its toll in the form of frequent beatings and abuse is by helping her fry a bigger fish. Time for a convenient plot point? I think so! One of the workers at John's construction company (Jon Bernthal) is an ex-con trying on behalf of his wife and son to lead a clean life, but is eventually persuaded by John to start introducing him to and setting him up with first local drug dealers (Michael Kenneth Williams) and eventually big-time cartel players (Benjamin Bratt). Now, it's in segments like these that this film goes beyond implausibility and takes a nose-dive straight into absurdity. John's main argument for why these hardened criminals should trust a straight-laced, ordinary guy like him is that he owns a legitimate business and the trucks utilized by his construction business carry too much freight to be properly searched. In that case, couldn't the cartels just buy a bunch of trucks and load them up with cheap and useless crap that can serve as a cover for the drugs? How no one had thought of this earlier in this movie is astounding to me. Additionally, what kind of shady, underground drug dealing world is this that people just trust outsiders implicitly because of one successful run? The escape from the rival cartel was impressive, sure, but new initiates don't just make leaps and bounds within a criminal organization like that. Any gangster will tell you, that s**t takes time.

As compared to other "true stories", however, the story is fairly solid, and elevated far above the bar set by similar films with its committed, natural performances. Sarandon and Barry Pepper are good as the district attorney and the DEA agent acting as John's handler, Bernthal makes his Daniel character sympathetic and likable enough to make a blip on the radar as what could have been a stock character, and though dipping a bit deep into "whiny teen" territory (Hollywood would have you believe that there's only two ways to play teenagers on the silver screen these days: as spoiled brats and wise far beyond their years. There is no in-between.) Gavron makes us genuinely care what happens to Jason. The standout, as I said before, is Johnson, whose stoic determination and somewhat angry yet urgent calm captures the essence of a father willing to do whatever it takes for his son.

In short, while by no means a masterpiece it is entertaining enough to warrant the DVD purchase if you're a fan of these types of movies (if you need some more examples, "Savages" and "Contraband" are the two that come to mind). It's also worth checking out simply to see Dwayne Johnson at his dramatic best, even if he is let down by the averageness of the movie.