Review of Snitch (2013) by Orlando O — 12 Jun 2013

Snitch does have some potential with the outstanding performances that Dwayne Johnson and Jon Bernthal had to offer but the movie in general was terrible and over the top melodramatic in this crime thriller film.

John Matthews (Dwayne Johnson) has to go undercover with the DEA to help reduce the arrest on his son Jason (Rafi Gavron) who was caught holding drugs. With the help of an ex con Daniel Cruz (Jon Bernthal) in getting John into the drug cartel world, it is only a matter of time until John makes a bust, or his son will go to prison for majority of his life.

The plot was simple, and tried to be emotionally engaging with the two leads trying to do whats best for their own families and also the stakes are high as their families are at risk with them being involved in the drug deals.

Dwayne Johnson gave an outstanding performance as a father who will do whatever it takes to set his son free, even if it cost him into doing risky drug deals as an undercover for the DEA. He also brought a very compelling emotion to his character.

Jon Bernthal also did great, as an ex con who is trying to support his own family, and trying to keep his son from hanging with the wrong people. Although, Snitch also fails on mostly everything with a muddled message, and trying to be feel good ending that just feels more peachy as it is.

It was also hard to connect with certain characters, especially its hard to even care for John Matthews son Jason since his mistake in getting involved with a drug deal felt like an idiotic arrogant decision than a simple mistake.

Some of the action in the movie and shootouts also felt really dull. At times, the movie did get boring as barely anything really happens as these protagonists take a very long time in deciding on what to do with their actions without really relying on where the consequences could lead too.

Ric Roman Waugh movie had a mixed clustered message and being too melodramatic involving families, and a sappy ending. Overall, Snitch is a bad film that never really rises as it falls flat for even caring for the characters in this slow paced crime film.