Snitch
- Review Date: February 21, 2013
- Rated: PG-13
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Release Year: 2013
- Running Time: 112 minutes
Common Sense Media says
Fact-based thriller paints harsh picture of drug trade.
- Review Date: February 21, 2013
- Rated: PG-13
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Release Year: 2013
- Running Time: 112 minutes
Snitch gallery
What parents need to know
Positive role models
Violence
Sex
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Snitch is an action thriller that doesn't sugarcoat the violence inherent in the drug trade. There are plenty of bloody gunfights and shootings, some at close range, and other brutal clashes, too (a man is shown strangling another, etc.). Cars chase and drive into each other on freeways, crashing and exploding and claiming lives. Criminals threaten each other with words and weapons (mostly guns). There are also allusions to prisoners beating up others to exert their dominance. A teen is shown discussing the use of Ecstasy (though he's not seen actually using), and he and a friend plot the delivery and sale of drugs. There's also some social drinking and swearing, including "s--t," "hell," and "ass."
User reviews
Parents say
Kids say
What's the story?
When his son Jason (Rafi Gavron), a high school senior, is arrested in a major narcotics bust, construction executive John Matthews (Dwayne Johnson) is introduced to the brutal world of mandatory sentencing laws. Though Jason is just a naive player in this world, the feds, led by the prosecutor (Susan Sarandon), expect him to SNITCH, to give up someone up the chain as part of a plea deal. But Jason won't talk on principle -- and he doesn't know anyone else besides the one friend who snitched on him to begin with, anyway. So instead, Matthews decides to offer himself up as a bargaining chip to limit Jason's sentence. He'll go undercover and become the bait to lure the proverbial bigger fish, a drug dealer (Michael K. Williams) who's running the local trade. Matthews' new employee (Jon Bernthal) is his entrée to this netherworld, but the transaction grows much more complicated and dangerous when a Mexican drug lord known as El Topo (Benjamin Bratt) takes over the transaction.
Is it any good?
QUALITY
Snitch has an uphill struggle from the get-go. Though its subject matter reeks of gravitas, it doesn't have the chops of a rich, complicated film like Traffic (despite a cast that includes the underused Sarandon and the top-rate Bratt), nor does it have the taut pacing of the Bourne movies. But for an action thriller with a message (that drug-sentencing laws for first-time offenders are massively unfair), it moves at a good clip and lets the plot, based on a true story, unspool in a straightforward, if pedestrian, manner.
So, yes, it's entertaining. Johnson doesn't exhibit much range, but it suffices. He's convincing as a father focused on getting the job done -- negotiating his son's release from jail -- no matter the cost. The back story has just enough layering that we care a bit for the characters, and maybe even the social issues the film tries to illuminate. Snitch is no trailblazer, though not every movie has to be. It's really more of a two-and-a-half-star film than a three, but we'll give it the extra half star, anyway, for the eye-opening, fast-moving story.
Families can talk about...
Families can talk about Snitch's messages. How does the movie's violent content affect the impact of any positive themes/take-aways?
How does the movie depict the drug trade? Do the consequences for use/dealing seem realistic? Fair?
Talk about how Jason gets in trouble in the first place. Is it believable? What do you think of the legal consequences of his one mistake? Do they seem fair?
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | February 22, 2013 |
| DVD release date: | June 11, 2013 |
| Cast: | Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Michael K. Williams, Susan Sarandon |
| Director: | Ric Roman Waugh |
| Studio: | Essential Pictures |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Run time: | 112 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | drug content and sequences of violence |
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QUALITY
Snitch
Well , first if the kid that you are taking with you knows about drugs and their stories I don't think you'll have much trouble.
1. Positive Message: Seeing that it shows kids not to take drugs and what's the punishments
2. Violence: Car chases , minor blood and the prisoner getting assulted(rape)
3. Language: Some swear words not much
4.Drugs: The whole story is about drugs
1 more thing , it might be boring and you can loose interest easily
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
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QUALITY
Too much violence and vulgar language for teens or children.
The movie has a good story and upholds a fairly decent set of values. However, there is considerable violence, some of it graphic, guns, a serious beating, profanity, and significant vulgar language.
What other families should know
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
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QUALITY
As a father this is the movie I'd LIKE my son to see
In judging suitability I have to think of what teens are exposed to in the real world. Without some "action" and yes I mean bullets flying and people dying on screen most teenage boys won't be interested. You can hope for something else--but this is the fact-presachy movies or with mild comedy themes without sex, action or violence are the most "uncool" movies for teens to see. Dwayne Johnson, as an extremely popular Pro Wrestler and muscle bound actor has the appeal that will get teen boys to listen, as opposed to the reality of preaching by most parents (aging and less than musclebound).
He (as well as the two mothers) show the despair and heartache that dealing drugs can do to the entire family. Also his son faces the awful nature of what happens to young guys in prison---Teen boys ARE exposed to drugs early and there may well be peer pressure to deal to fund these habits (despite what you as parents might wish). This movie may help them understand what might happen if they succomb. Without the action/violence and Dwayne Johnson's presence as a tease no self respecting teen would want to see it--with it they might see and some will be deterred from the street life.
Also for parents--many uncritically support politicians who are "tough on crime" and like mandatory minimum sentences. This movie graphically shows how these policies act in real life--where the ones that ten to get caught are the young and relatively innocent. Perhaps it will cause some folks to re-evalute their support for such rigid policies.
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