Snitch, 2013.
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh.
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, Michael K. Williams, Rafi Gavron, Benjamin Bratt, and Melinda Kanakaredes.
SYNOPSIS:
John Matthews (Johnson) is a successful haulage firm boss whose son Jason is arrested for drug trafficking after being set-up by a friend. After turning down an offer from a U.S attorney Keeghan (Sarandon) which would reduce his sentence, but at a moral cost, it seems that Jason (Gavron) is going to prison for a long time. However, Matthews pleads with the attorney to let him go undercover and get what the ambitious attorney wants, in the hope that he can save his estranged son.
This is no fictitious story; it is based on true events and consequently makes the core of the story engaging. To begin with I assumed that as “The Rock” was playing the main character and that he was going to go into the dark, dangerous world of drug trafficking, it would be an all-too-familiar explosion on my TV, with the big man smashing his way almost into my front room. I was wrong. Instead I was presented with a reasonably paced, solid film. Johnson showed a side I hadn’t seen before with no displays of amazing strength or unstoppable power, but the portrayal of a normal father who, partly due to the guilt over his estrangement from his son, will go to any lengths to save him. That aside, the role may have been better suited to someone of a more average build, because no matter how well he executed the emotional and mental anguish of Matthews’ pain, Dwayne Johnson is still a very large man whose physical presence cannot be ignored.
Jon Bernthal plays ex-con Daniel James, who works for Matthews and finds himself pulled back into a world he had almost escaped from. I enjoyed Bernthal during his spell in The Walking Dead and he made the character’s plight entirely believable. Sarandon and Pepper used their respective, excellent abilities to squeeze the most out of characters that had little depth.
There are a couple of major action set-pieces and given director Waugh’s historical stuntman background there is an especially well executed climatic chase. The shooting though echoes the expectation I had over how The Rock would play the role; it certainly isn’t all bullets and explosions, there are also some good shots of Johnson doing his best to be as nervous as a man his size could realistically be.
Extras include an audio commentary track with director Waugh and the editor Jonathan Chibnall, the seemingly obligatory deleted scenes and a very good “making of” documentary.
Johnson has the potential to be more than another “Terminator” (though I wouldn’t be surprised if he is on the Skynet production line) and he chisels enough of his hard exterior away in this to display assets other than a twelve pack and “The People’s Elbow.”
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
J-P Wooding – Follow me on Twitter.
Originally published October 29, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
