Snitch
John Matthews (“The Rock†Dwayne Johnson) is the owner of a successful construction company and the proud father and husband to a wife and daughter. He also happens to have a mildly troubled teenage son from a previous relationship, Jason (Rafi Gavron). Jason is setup by a “friend†to help smuggle some drugs into the country, as a result the DEA pins him with possession and the intent to distribute illegal substances, a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. Acting in desperation John makes a deal with the District Attorney (Susan Sarandon) to work undercover for the DEA in order to lessen his son’s sentence. But how far into the belly of the beast will John have to go in order to free his son and at what cost?
Loosely based on actual events, the writers of the film have definitely taken liberties to create an action film, yet somehow actually managed to keep its feet mostly planted in reality. However, that’s not to say there aren’t a few eye rolling moments where the melodrama of the whole situation comes across a little too thick, or that the believability of the whole thing is spot on. And, slightly confused, the political message that’s woven in and out of the script seems to miss it’s mark by not creating a fully formed argument; the thesis “Mandatory minimum sentences are bad†is only partially supported by this one anecdotal example. That aside, the ensemble seem to embody their roles decent enough, there aren’t any Oscars here; and, it’s hard to see Johnson as a hulking underdog of sorts, but we can safely stamp “pass†across this one. The rest of the film is safely formulaic, you could do a lot worse with your entertainment dollar. Snitch is rated PG-13.