Snitch (2013)

Snitch is a 2013 American action thriller film directed by Ric Roman Waugh and starring Dwayne Johnson, based on the experiences of Drug Enforcement Agency informant James Settembrino. The film was released in the United States on February 22, 2013. The film also stars Barry Pepper, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, Benjamin Bratt, and Michael Kenneth Williams.

Plot.

College student Jason Collins is persuaded to allow his friend Craig to ship drugs to his house. Jason signs for the package which contains pills and a tracking device. Drug Enforcement Agency officers break into the house; Jason flees but is chased down and arrested by Agent Cooper. While at a barbecue, John Matthews, Jason’s estranged father and owner of a construction company, is called by his ex-wife Sylvie about Jason being arrested. John and Sylvie meet with an investigator who says that Craig set Jason up to reduce his own sentence. Jason’s charges carry a minimum of 10 years in prison. He is pressured to inform on one of his own friends to reduce his own sentence. Using his connections, John arranges to meet with local US Attorney Joanne Keeghan, who is running an aggressive anti-drug campaign. Keeghan agrees to reduce Jason’s sentence if John will inform on a drug dealer.

Cooper leads a task force which will monitor any dealings John arranges to use as evidence for an arrest. John searches through his employee records and finds that Daniel James, a new employee, has two prior distribution convictions. Daniel is currently leading a clean life to avoid a third strike. John offers $20,000 if Daniel will simply introduce him to a dealer; Daniel agrees, though he is unaware that John is acting as an informant. Daniel introduces John to Malik, an extremely dangerous, high-ranking local drug dealer, who also has two strikes. Explaining that his construction business cannot stay afloat in the current economy without a supplement to its revenues, John offers to run nearly limitless amounts of drugs at almost zero risk in his freight trucks. Malik agrees under the condition that John and Daniel drive the initial run themselves.

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John and Agent Cooper arrange for several wire taps. John drives to the pick-up point near the Mexican border when a rival gang ambushes the pick-up, but John escapes, impressing cartel kingpin Pintera, whose men fight off the hijackers. John then makes the deal, delivering the drugs to Malik while under surveillance by Cooper. Malik mentions a meeting with cartel members higher than himself. Cooper, hoping to catch the higher priority targets, does not move to arrest Malik as agreed. Keeghan claims Cooper did the right thing and reneges on her promise to reduce Jason’s sentence unless John cooperates in the second meeting. John, outraged, demands that Jason be released when the job is completed.

Daniel learns of John’s arrangement with the DEA and is furious, saying that the cartel will kill John, Daniel, and their families if the truth comes out. John and Daniel send their families into hiding. John meets with Pintera, who wants him to run nearly $100 million in drug profits into Mexico and offers to make John a member of the cartel’s inner circle if he succeeds. Keeghan relishes the prospect of arresting such a high-profile dealer, but Cooper has a change of heart and tries to talk John out of doing the run, suspecting the cartel will kill him afterward. John devises a plan to free himself and Daniel from both the government and the cartel. During the run, John is able to escape Cooper’s surveillance.

Production, Release.

Snitch is directed by Ric Roman Waugh and written by Waugh and Justin Haythe. The project was first set up in 2004 by Guy East and Nigel Sinclair, partners at Spitfire Pictures. They were inspired by a Frontline documentary about how changes to the federal drug policy of the United States encouraged the incarcerated to snitch on their accomplices. Haythe wrote the initial screenplay, and Waugh was hired to rewrite it. In March 2011, actor Dwayne Johnson was cast in the film’s starring role. Filming began in December 2011 in Bossier City, Louisiana, and concluded on January 19, 2012. “Snitch” was released on February 22, 2013 in the United States and Canada. The film is distributed by Lionsgate subsidiary Summit Entertainment.

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Box office, Critical response.

“Snitch” opened in 2,511 theaters in the United States and grossed $13,167,607, with an average of $5,244 per theater, and ranking #2 at the box office. The film earned a total of $42,930,462 domestically and $14,894,212 internationally, for a total of $57,824,674. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site’s critics consensus states: “Though it features one of Dwayne Johnson’s more thoughtful performances, the presentation of Snitch’s underlying message is muddled by lackluster storytelling and some tonal inconsistencies.” At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B” on an A+ to F scale.

Cast:

Dwayne Johnson as John Matthews
Barry Pepper as DEA Agent Cooper
Benjamin Bratt as Juan Carlos
Harold Perrineau as Attorney Jeffery
Susan Sarandon as District Attorney Joanne Keeghan
Jon Bernthal as Daniel James
Michael Kenneth Williams as Malik Anderson
Melina Kanakaredes as Sylvie Collins
Nadine Velazquez as Analisa Matthews
Rafi Gavron as Jason Collins
David Harbour as Jay Price
Kyara Campos as Isabelle Matthews
Jason Douglas as Wayne
Richard Cabral as ‘Flaco’
James Allen McCune as Craig Johnson
J. D. Pardo as Benicio
Kym Jackson as DEA Agent Sims
Lela Loren as Vanessa James, Daniel’s wife

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