I was shocked when I found out that Snitch is based on true events, because the events that transpire throughout the movie seem very unbelievable. The movie also seemed like it was trying to be a "wake up call" to the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and the government, because it informs us that the charges for a first-time drug offender are often worse than those for rape or assault. Although the movie had some good action scenes, it was oddly slow-paced at times, and failed to keep my attention throughout its runtime.
The movie opens with Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron) talking to a friend via Skype. The friend, who sells drugs, asks Jason if he can have a shipment delivered to his house; Jason sort-of declines but leaves it up in the air, and signs off Skype when his mom (Melina Kanakaredes) arrives home. A little while later, the package arrives at the door, and Jason signs for it - however, his friend had been caught mailing the package, and the DEA had placed a tracker in it. The DEA take him to jail and someone calls his dad, John Matthews (Dwayne Johnson, aka "The Rock"), who goes to the police station to try and bail Jason out. He's informed that even though Jason is a first-time offender, he will be given the maximum penalty - 10 years in jail, or more - unless he can help "snitch" on other drug dealers, like his friend did to him. Jason doesn't know any other dealers, but when John goes to the District Attorney, Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon), and offers himself as Jason's stand-in for finding dealers, she agrees. John gets introduced to some dealers, and offers his trucks for transportation, saying that he and his family need the money, but the dealers know something is up when they do a background check and find out that he's actually quite wealthy.
My favorite character in this movie was actually Susan Sarandon's, as the D.A. She's a bit slimy - she's running for re-election and wants some good press - and she doesn't really care about John or his son. I thought Dwayne Johnson did well with what he was given, but the story itself was all kinds of crazy; even though the premise is the same in the story upon which it's based, I doubt that the father in the real story got into car chases and, subsequently, crashes. There were a few funny lines in the film, too, and I would have liked to have seen more of these; they popped up at random moments throughout.
Maybe see this movie. If you like car chases, you might like this film; however, I thought that it moved rather slowly throughout most of it. Benjamin Bratt has a random cameo as a "drug kingpin," as Sarandon's character refers to him, and she changes her goal to bringing him down instead of the local dealer she originally was going after. Twilight fans may recognize JD Pardo, too, who was in the last film of the series; he plays one of Bratt's associates in this movie. The story in Snitch is definitely interesting, but the movie needs to be more fast-paced, and the script also needs an overhaul as well.
Snitch is in theaters today, February 22nd, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 112 minutes. 2.5 stars out of 5.
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Liz Parker is a University of Michigan graduate with a degree in Creative Writing and Literature, and she loves going to the movies. Visit her at her movie blog Yes/No Films
