Snitch

2013 "How Far Would You Go To Save Your Son?"
6.4| 1h52m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 22 February 2013 Released
Producted By: Summit Entertainment
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Construction company owner John Matthews learns that his estranged son, Jason, has been arrested for drug trafficking. Facing an unjust prison sentence for a first time offender courtesy of mandatory minimum sentence laws, Jason has nothing to offer for leniency in good conscience. Desperately, John convinces the DEA and the opportunistic DA Joanne Keeghan to let him go undercover to help make arrests big enough to free his son in return. With the unwitting help of an ex-con employee, John enters the narcotics underworld where every move could be his last in an operation that will demand all his resources, wits and courage to survive.

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Reviews

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!
Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
I_should_be_reading_a_book Amazing what a good script, on the spot direction and solid supporting actors can do for a movie. Dwayne Johnson, always touted as a wooden action hero delivers a fairly credible performance and so do the rest of the crowd, specially Jon Bernthal, Barry Pepper and Susan Sarandon in a remake of some of her past roles. Not much depth but remember this is supposed to be an action movie; thus, you're in for a pleasant surprise: the action is measured -even subdued- spot-on and very credible. It doesn't require the viewer to switch off the brain.Good guys stay good, bad guys make you fear and hate them, and then they get what should be coming to them. There's well played drama sprinkled in and the movie is tense and gripping throughout. A solid 8/10!
The Movie Diorama The poster and marketing made you believe this was an action film, they were wrong. You thought there would be enough thrills to have this classed as a thriller, think again. Not powerful enough to be deemed a drama, so the question is: what is Snitch? It's serviceable, whatever genre you class it as. A father's son is set up for distributing narcotics. Unwilling to snitch on his friends, his father steps up and decides to take out the local drug cartel that the DEA have been pursuing. The ever so popular story of "how far will you go to save your own family". Surprisingly, this moody affair packs a punch and there are a few quality elements to take away from this. The acting, overall, was pretty damn good. Dwayne Johnson gives a thoughtful performance with some hefty emotional weight. Everything his character does, says or thinks about is all for the love of his family. Even if that means putting himself in danger, which is always commendable to watch. Jon Bernthal supports Johnson's emotions by playing the jaded and experienced ex-con who unknowingly is dragged into being an informant. The two had great on screen chemistry. Also want to comment on Barry Pepper's facial hair. I want it. I counted two small action scenes, a shootout and a lorry chase sequence. I liked the minimal amount of action, it made the story feel real. Unfortunately quite a few quick cuts and constant zooming in made the scenes rather tedious. The narrative's downfall is the lack of compelling dialogue. Due to the limited action and thrills, it's heavily focused on the plot and characters. When both of these underdeveloped and basic, it lacks the punch required in order to elevate the film from being "yeah that was ok" to "wow, I need to watch that again". It's all too safe. Casting Johnson was clearly a smart move, if they didn't this familiar story would've crashed and burned. A personal story on an intimidating subject matter makes for a moody "action thriller".
Vinny37 Snitch is set in a post-divorce era. A son (Jason), somewhat rebellious, is suckered by a mate who, gaining brownie points for the DEA, tricks him into receiving illegal drugs. Jason in turn is offered a deal: sucker others in the drug's network and you'll get time off jail. He is basically an innocent, doesn't know anyone to be in the network, and won't sucker in the innocent as he was. His father (John), a successful businessman, offers to help the DEA for his son's early release. This requires contacting the local drug's network, and this (in eventum) requires bribing an employee and reformed criminal (Daniel). Daniel likes his boss and advises him to stay away from drugs, but Daniel finally yields to the temptation of serious money if he helps John make a contact: Daniel's family is very hard up and John seems serious.Daniel knows a nasty (Malik), who gives John a drug's job. The DEA could have gotten a good arrest out of that, and honoured their deal to release Jason early, but decide that John's success as a courier can help them nail a bigger fish in a strong drug's cartel (El Topo). It soon turns out that John's second trip will be a one-way trip, leading to his murder in Mexico: the DEA is morally divided. John, put in the picture, redraws the plan to give himself a fighting chance of survival. At this stage Daniel understands John's family motivations, and himself a family man, helps John's plans. Without going further, suffice to say it's a nail biter, and (to my ears) F-word free. A gritty film, showing real courage and concern for others, as well as dirty tricks within the DEA, where motivations are mixed. Was left hoping the cartel's snitch would get her comeuppance. Would have loved Cordell Walker to have shown up and spared me my fingernails, too.
LeeRob7 A surprisingly decent movie given Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson plays the lead. The main premise of the story stems from events after John's (Johnson) son is imprisoned for drug dealing leading John to use the means he has from his business to strike a deal with the local drug cartel and work with the DEA to bring down several major criminals in order to convince the district attorney to free his son from jail. I expected the odd wrestle and/or fight scene amongst mindless action and guns but what I got was far more. Yes there's some action but not involving Johnson's juiced up alter ego. It's good to see another, more human side to Johnson with him marginally holding his own as a serious actor. I say marginally because his style is somewhat wooden and flawed but none the less reasonable and fulfilling to see. Jon Bernthal is exceptional in his supporting role and Michael Williams plays a convincing criminal, as expected from one of the stand out cast members from the US series 'The Wire'. This movie is based on true events... loosely I would suggest as I doubt the lead would ascertain the success he does over such a short period, however it was compelling and enjoyable. 6/10, worth a watch!