Ric Roman Waugh
is a Stunt Director by profession. And
if one were to look at his filmography in the stunt department, it is enviable
to say the least. Lets call a few names
out – Gone in 60 seconds, Last Action Hero, Total Recall (WOW!!!). He has a couple of movies to his credit as a
director but Snitch wasn’t bad at all.
Snitch (the name
and the lead cast is ever so slightly misleading) has more to do with a father’s
unconditional love for his slightly estranged son. It deals with his readiness to go to any
extent to save his son from a future that has started to look quite bleak to
put it very mildly.
John Matthews
(Dwayne Johnson) is your average ordinary everyday hard working American
man. He runs his own transport business,
one that is not necessarily doing too well in the current economy. But John is a reasonably happy man. He does struggle with his son from his first
marriage and his 2nd wife who he loves very dearly. But they all get by – one day at a time.
Despite his son’s
animosity towards his, John loves his dearly.
After all he is John’s first born.
But the public prosecutor Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) cannot quite
relate to his desperation. She doesn’t have
any children of her own. John is only
trying to save his son from getting behind bars for good for possession of
narcotics.
The quantity is
sufficient to put a man behind bars for between 10 years to life. Not something that any father would want for
his child. So what does John do now? He
brokers a deal with the Feds. One that
gets his son out with little or no time.
In return for which he will set up and hand over a local drug dealer –
Malik (Michael Kenneth Williams). What
John doesn’t realize is that the work is easier said than done.
I have never
seen The Rock look so vulnerable on screen.
He usually picks up characters that are in sync with his external
appearance. One that is full of brawn
and little or no brain – like a jailbird or a football star. To see him play a dimunitive – you heard me
right – father was actually a pleasant surprise. Credit to Dwayne Johnson for carrying the
role all the way through.
More credit due
to Ric Roman Waugh. As a stunt director,
he could have well gotten carried away with his core profession and converted
Snitch into chase fest. But he restrains
himself to giving the audience only what the story demands. What is given is high quality action. But he ensures that the softer aspects are
taken care of adequately.
Snitch actually
turned out to be a much better movie than what I expected it to be. A good story line and believe it or not, some
really good performances with solid attention to detail. Definitely worth a dekko. A pity you will have to wait for the DVD or
it to play on TV. 6 on 10.
Watch the trailer
on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1168877337/?ref_=tt_ov_vi
No comments:
Post a Comment