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Blog by Don Kennedy

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Snitch

Snitch is inspired by a TV documentary on Frontline about how changes to the US Federal Drug policy encouraged the incarcerated to inform on their accomplices in exchange for a lighter sentence. The film stars Dwayne Johnson but if you are looking for some holdover pro wrestling machismo you are going to have to do like “The Rock” does here and keep your shirt on. Sure you can tell Johnson’s character John Matthews is ripped under his tasteful working mans cotton twill but this guy is no pugilist. He’s an average guy trying to make a go of his trucking business as well as his second marriage to Analisa (Nadine Velazquez who sadly, unlike in Flight, keeps her shirt on too). That’s shattered when John’s son Jason (Rafi Gavron) from his first marriage gets lured into helping his best friend smuggle drugs into their Missouri home town. Because this so called best friend snitches on him to save his own skin, Jason gets busted by FBI agent Cooper (BC’s Barry Pepper rocking a goatee that’s gone completely off the rails). When Jason refuses to also turn informant the State’s Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) is prepared to throw the 10 year mandatory minimum book at him until John convinces her to let him take Jason’s place in setting up a bust. John’s original target is a local small time supplier named Malek (Michael Kenneth Williams) but it become apparent that by giving him a pass they have a shot at busting the king pin, El Topo (Benjamin Bratt). The problem with that is that although it bolsters Keeghan’s political ambitions it also puts both Mathews clans in peril not to mention Jon Bernthal (Daniel James) John’s loyal employee trying to go straight with two strikes against him. Kudos to Writer/Director Ric Roman Waugh who keeps gunplay to a minimum even though he capitulates on his even script with an obligatory car chase. That may have been unnecessary as Johnson is getting pretty good at carrying a movie solely on his strength as an actor.

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