After this film, the British director Guy Ritchie was finally and irrevocably called a cult. A crime action movie with a fair share of good comedic scenes and many colorful characters. The vast majority of reviews of the movie "Big Jackpot" (the original name is Snatch) are almost enthusiastic.
General information
Despite a relatively small budget of 6 million British pounds, the director managed to shoot a dynamic and colorful crime movie, where low-cost English actors were diluted by Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro. The picture collected at the global box office about 83.6 million US dollars, paying off costs tens of times.
The film in the year of the premiere became the leader in the UK box office. The director himself was at first sure that the picture was terrible when he first watched a fully edited film, and half an hour after the start of the session, his dream destroyed him. Critics noted that the picture is distinguished by the corporate identity of Guy Ritchie with the rapid development of events, many colorful and sometimes ridiculous characters.
In economy mode
To reduce costs, producers had to save on everything when they filmed episodes with clandestine boxing fights, the extras hired were enough only for spectators on one side of the ring. Therefore, when the shooting angle changed, the crowd had to move to the opposite side of the camera to create the effect of a full hall. However, judging by the reviews of the "Big Kush", the audience did not notice anything.
One of the actors, Jason Fleming, joked that the conditions on the set were so poor that members of the human rights organization Amnesty International picketed the trailer of Brad Pitt, because it is not suitable for human life.
Looking for Brick
Brad Pitt, who really wanted to play with Guy Ritchie, had to agree to a significant reduction in fees. However, not everyone went for it. The producers suggested the role of Brick first to Sean Connery. The famous actor liked the script, and he even wanted to see the director’s first work.
Producer Matthew Vaughn organized an urgent viewing of the film "Cards, Money, Two Trunks." After watching Connery said the movie is good. Then he added in a tragic whisper: "But I can not afford it." Then this role was offered to Dave Courtney, an almost real gangster, actor and showman who was the prototype of Big Chris from the movie "Cards, Money, Two Trunks." As a result, the role went to Alan Ford, an English actor who starred in the debut film of Guy Ritchie in the small role of Alan the narrator, who (according to reviews of the Big Kush in 2000) quite organically succeeded in the image of a local authority, known in the criminal world for his cruelty and habit feeding corpses to pigs.
The plot of the picture
The plot of the film "Big Jackpot" in 2000 consists of two overlapping criminal stories about the stolen big diamond and illegal boxing fights.
A gang of robbers led by Frankie, nicknamed Four Fingers (Benicio del Toro), dressed as Orthodox Jews, steals many gems in Antwerp, including a 86-carat diamond. They should deliver it to the New York jeweler Avi Denovits (Dennis Farina). Frankie goes to London to sell small stones, where, learning about the sweepstakes in clandestine boxing fights, decides to bet.
About a gigantic stone, by an incredible combination of circumstances, they learn:
- two hapless boxing promoters Turk (Jason Statham) and Tommy (Stephen Graham);
- Irish nomad Mickey (in the Russian translation of the gypsies), participant in fist fights;
- Russian arms dealer Boris Razor (Rade Sherbegiya);
- the famous "solver" of problems Tony "Bullet in the teeth" (Vinnie Jones);
- two black petty criminals - Saul (Lenny James) and Vinnie (Robbie G.).
As a result of the bloody struggle, the big jackpot goes to Turku and Tommy, who send him to New York for his intended purpose.
Almost gypsy
Brad Pitt got the role of an Irish nomad due to the fact that he could not reliably imitate the London accent. As a result, his hero Mickey, as conceived by Guy Ritchie, speaks an inarticulate language that no one understands. Like in “Fight Club”, in which he starred a year earlier, Brad Pitt plays a fist fighter.
According to reviews of The Big Kush, the scenes with the boxing gypsy turned out to be very spectacular and colorful. In one of the takes, the actor broke his finger, but continued to act until his arm was completely swollen.
Foreign reviews
In general, the reviews of critics were positive, everyone noted the complexity of the plot, which consisted of several interconnected stories, the aggressive style of filming and the energy of the events. In the reviews of the film "Big Jackpot" in 2000, there is a great stylistic resemblance to the director's debut picture.
The famous American film critic Roger Ebert writes that Guy Ritchie is not interested in showing crimes, he just wants to keep the viewer in suspense. And although the critic cannot recommend Snatch for viewing, but at the same time he notes that the film cannot be bad if there are such dialogues: the representative of the American customs says: “Can you declare something?”, To which the criminal jeweler Avi answers: “ Yes, do not go to England. "
Other professional reviews note that the film again shows the life of the London underworld from a slightly different angle than in the film "Cards, Money, Two Trunks." But with the same humor and sense of style, with a puzzling plot around the missing diamond, which again led the director to a resounding success.
Russian reviews
In a review on the Afisha portal, the critic writes (as on many other media resources) that the director’s second film is modeled after the successful debut film “Cards, Money, Two Trunks” - another complicated story with gangsters, jewelry and an underground tote . The plot is cobbled together from contemporary London city folklore, which Cockneys share in pubs. Each character has a real prototype, each storyline has a corresponding real story. Guy Ritchie even warrants scenes with a pig that he himself knows the guy who fed the corpses to pigs.
On the page of Kommersant, dizzying editing and energy of the film are noted, comparing the director with Tarantino, only Richie is more dynamic. The plot spins in fast-forward mode, something can slip away, some small details can fall out of the audience’s attention, but the pleasure of such viewing is guaranteed.
"Moscow News" also writes about the dynamism of the plot, that the style of editing adds energy to the action of the picture. As in many other reviews of the "Big Kush", note the abundance of bloody scenes, which are complemented by absurd British humor. And although no one dies directly in the frame, critics meticulously calculated that only 26 people were killed in the picture.
The opinion of the audience
Reviews of the "Big Kush" of Russian viewers, for the most part the male audience, were also very enthusiastic. Many liked the "clip" style of the film and especially the game of the actors. At the same time, like professional critics, amateurs noted the interweaving of storylines, black English humor, ridiculous gangsters and bloody scenes. And that all this strongly reminds both Tarantino, and Richie's debut film.
Many spectators were ridiculed by ridiculous situations in which the three criminals constantly fall: Sol, Vincent and Tyrone. In reviews of The Big Kush, they write that the director mocks the criminal world with these scenes. Guy Ritchie himself said that almost all situations were taken from television programs about the real most ridiculous crimes.