Review of Snatch (2000) by Michael W — 01 Feb 2013

An atrocious comedic drama which glamorizes criminal activity, violence, and almost mind-numbingly pervasive profanity...I had a hard time finishing it. Rest assured that your potential for gaining new insight or finding life-enriching meaning of any kind is slim to none; you definitely will not be uplifted. Even just measuring it in terms of simple entertainment value, its wit & humor don't come close to compensating for its violence. The kinds of flashy bloodshed and theatrical cruelty which are found in films like Snatch desensitize fragile minds and corrode morals in a way that, yes, does in fact facilitate real-world violence.

Brief example: the film's analysis of the efficiencies of pig farms for human corpse disposal - some people inevitably walked away reflecting on the strengths & weaknesses of different corpse disposal methods...a topic in which they would not have otherwise invested mental energy. I just wish we could have more honest conversations with ourselves and each other about the impact the media to which we expose ourselves has on us individually, and on those among us who are most malleable. Not to be preachy, but that there is any real market for this movie ought to be unsettling to those of us who value human life; this film almost entirely implies that it is worthless. Watch something else...there is plenty of better out there to be seen.