Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: Snitch

Monday, March 4, 2013

Snitch - Review

Snitch
(2013 - February 22)
Action | Drama | Thriller
1 hr. 52 min.

Rated: PG-13 Sequences of Violence and Drug Content. Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ What parents need to know
Grade: B+

Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Writers: Justin Haythe, Ric Roman Waugh
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal | See full cast and crew

In the fast-paced action thriller SNITCH, Dwayne Johnson stars as a father whose teenage son is wrongly accused of a drug distribution crime and is looking at a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years. Desperate and determined to rescue his son at all costs, he makes a deal with the U.S. attorney to work as an undercover informant and infiltrate a drug cartel on a dangerous mission -- risking everything, including his family and his own life. (c) Summit

Snitch was a pleasant surprise and is without a doubt Dwayne Johnson's best performance to date. It is remarkable that this film, considering the subject matter, is not riddled with profanity and hasn't a single F word. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson doesn't even take off his shirt to show his Pro Wrestling physique. It is an action film that is more about family, parental devotion and foolish laws than it is an action film about drug cartels. I predict that 'The Rock' moniker will soon be a distant memory.

Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron) is a high school senior and the son of construction executive John Matthews (Dwayne Johnson), who lives with his mother (Melina Kanakaredes) and has taken her name after the divorce. Jason accepts delivery of a package from a friend and is arrested in a major narcotics bust and is quickly introduced to the severe world of mandatory sentencing laws. Even though Jason is a naive 'dope' of no importance in the big bad drug world, under the direction of prosecutor (Susan Sarandon), the feds expect him to snitch, to give up someone up the chain as part of a plea deal.

But on principle, Jason won't talk. He doesn't know anyone anyway, besides the one friend who snitched on him, when he was caught mailing the package to Jason. In an effort to save his son from a long prison term, Matthews decides to offer himself up as a bargaining chip to limit Jason's sentence. He offers to go undercover and become the bait to lure the proverbial bigger fish, Malik (Michael K. Williams), the drug dealer running the local turf.

Matthews has a new employee Daniel James (Jon Bernthal) who just so happens to be an ex-con. So, he begs and coerces Daniel to get him and introduction to Malik and the drug dealer netherworld. The transaction becomes much more complicated and dangerous when El Topo (Benjamin Bratt) a Mexican drug takes over the transaction. What parents will go through for their ungrateful children.