Snitch

 

You have to admire the fact that Dwayne Johnson even considered starring in a movie like Snitch.  Even though the ad campaign makes it look like it's the usual kind of action thriller that he would usually appear in, this is actually a drama.  All the action featured in the trailers is in the last 15 minutes or so.  Up until that point, he gives a genuinely interesting performance as a father caught in the middle of forces much more powerful than him.  He's not going to win any awards for this anytime soon, but it is nice to see that he is trying to stretch here, and that he is quite likable in such a role.

This "inspired by a true story" film centers on Jon Matthews (Johnson), an everyman who owns a successful trucking company.  His ordinary life comes to a sudden halt when his teenage son from his first marriage (Rafi Gavron) is arrested in a sting set up by the Drug Enforcement Administration.  It turns out the kid reluctantly agreed to hold onto a package of Ecstasy for a friend.  What he did not realize is that the friend had set him up as part of his own plea bargain.  Jon's son is being threatened with a 10 year minimum jail sentence, unless he himself can make a similar bargain, and point out some drug dealers.  The problem is Jon's son was only a casual user, and doesn't know anyone else in the drug game, except for the friend who used him.  If he refuses to cooperate, his sentence could be pushed up to 30.

At first, Jon is angered at what his son did, and feels that he should serve the time.  But when he begins to visit the kid at prison, and sees that he is being abused by the other prisoners, he realizes that he has to take matters into his own hands in order to get his son a shorter sentence.  He goes to the local U.S. Attorney, Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) in order to set up some kind of deal.  He offers to go undercover and help catch some of the local drug dealers if it will mean his son gets a reduced prison sentence.  Joanne is against the idea, but Jon goes against her wishes, and hooks up with one of his employees (Jon Bernthal) with a criminal history to get him introduced to a local drug dealer (Michael Kenneth Williams).  When it turns out that the dealer may have ties to one of the biggest drug kingpins in Mexico, Joanne suddenly becomes interested in Jon's plan.  If he cooperates with police to bring down the kingpin, she will give his son an early release.

Snitch largely works as a dramatic thriller, where both Jon and his son are being used by the U.S. Attorney, who is planning a run for Congress in the near future, and is really only concerned with catching the drug kingpin in order to advance her career.  She knows that Jon will do anything to get his son free, and so she manipulates him into going deep into dangerous situations.  The movie probably would have worked better if it had just focused on that angle, but instead, the movie introduces a lot of side characters - probably way too many more than a film like this needs.  We have Jon's ex-wife, his current wife, and his young daughter from his current marriage.  Not only that, but the employee that he teams up with to bring down the drug cartel has a wife and son of his own, as well as his own backstory.  Everybody seems to be vying for our attention, pulling us away from the central father and son story, which works well enough on its own.

And it is Dwayne Johnson who largely makes this movie works.  He comes across as being very sympathetic and actually somewhat fearful the deeper he gets into this mess.  The first time he tries to go up against some drug dealers completely on his own and without the cooperation of law enforcement, he gets beaten up quite severely, and left for dead.  For an action star, this is like a cold dose of reality.  It's nice to see that Johnson tries to make his character as human as possible.  It's always a bit of a stretch when we see an actor we're used to seeing in action films playing a father and a general "everyman" role, but he pulls it off quite well here.  He's largely taking a chance with this role, and it manages to pay off.

 

Snitch ends with some facts flashed upon the screen about how our drug laws are largely inconsistent, compared to other crimes.  It's certain to leave audience members talking on the way out.  Any movie that inspires conversation is definitely a good thing.  Hopefully the film will do well enough at the box office to inspire Dwayne Johnson to take another chance like this again.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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