Not to be confused with 'Snatch'

'Snitch'

written by Justin Haythe & Ric Roman Waugh

directed by Ric Roman Waugh

Starring Swayne Johnson, Rafi Gavron, Barry Pepper and Susan Sarandon

Rated PG-13

112 Minutes

Dwayne Johnson, the actor formerly known as 'The Rock', has tried hard to move away from his professional wrestling persona by starring in a series of preposterous action roles.  Surprisingly, "Snitch" provides him his most understated performance yet in a movie that is better than you'd think, but still bears the mark of an amateur director.  It also has one of those giveaway title cards that says "based on a real event," which means you can expect at least half the feature to be a total work of fiction.

The director is Ric Roman Waugh, who has been a stuntman in nearly 50 feature films, which may explain an incomprehensible chase scene that happens in the first few minutes of "Snitch."  Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron) is running from the DEA after they bust in to intercept a shipment of ecstasy pills that Jason just received.  As he hops fences and sprints back alleys, the cameraman seemingly sprints right along behind him, resulting in one of the worst cases of queasy-cam I've ever seen.  Mercifully, Jason is swiftly caught and the camera work calms down for the duration of the feature.

While "Snitch" claims to be based on a real event, I question the film's depiction of a completely irresponsible and stubborn state prosecutor played by Susan Sarandon.  She tells Jason's father John Matthews that in order for her to reduce Jason's sentence, he will be required to dime out other drug dealers or known traffickers.  Problem is, Jason doesn't know any and the pill incident was only the result of a stupid mistake.  John accepts this, and offers to bring in a big shot cartel leader all by himself.  This is where the film strains credibility because the Sarandon character goes for the idea almost without hesitation.  

Matthews owns a construction business and enlists the help of an employee named Daniel (Jon Bernthal) who has a connection to a big time drug runner.  Daniel is trying to go straight and support his family, but after introducing John to Malik (Michael Kenneth Williams), he is forced to go on the first run with John as a show of good faith.  Apparently even in the drug trade, professionalism is paramount.  The first run is monitored by Agent Cooper (Barry Pepper), who tries to bring reason to the situation by telling John how deep he's getting.  Cooper holds off on nabbing Malik when he realizes that on the receiving end of the money is Juan 'The Mole' Pintera (Benjamin Bratt), a cartel leader who wears some very fancy sun glasses, but never does much else.  

This sounds like the perfect set up for a climax full of shoot-outs, explosions and double crosses but "Snitch" stays pleasantly grounded in the tension that builds on John as time runs out.  Oh sure, there is a riveting freeway chase and a couple close scrapes, but they aren't sensationalized for a carnage-hungry audience.  In fact, the PG-13 rating stays true to its expectations, and delivers the goods without foul language and excessive violence.  Dwayne Johnson is also pretty convincing as an average Joe who is just trying to save his family.  Considering his bulking size, that's no easy task, but he pulls it off.

With some practice and a truly great script, Ric Roman Waugh may emerge as a competent director in the years to come.  "Snitch" is certainly a good try, and considering its release at the tail end of box office dumping season, you could do worse for weekend entertainment in February.  And I'd like to see Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson fill his resume with a few more roles like this; where he isn't expected to pummel everything just because he's built like Mr. Universe.  Although, he totally could have taken that sissy cartel guy.  Just sayin.