the heist of a flawless , 84 carat diamond , fixed bare knuckle fights , irish gypsies and a dog are just some of the goings on in director guy ritchies's sophomore feature , " snatch . " " lock , stock and two smoking barrels " intro'd helmer/scripter ritchie with a hyper-kinetic , in your face underworld comedy that grabbed the viewer's attention from beginning to end . his protagonists were innocents set adrift in a see of sharks to swim or be eaten alive . with " snatch , " the director doesn't remake his first work , but he does delve more deeply into the criminal underbelly of london , mining a rich collection of characters in the process . >from the very beginning , " snatch " tosses you into the action with the theft of the fabulous diamond , the desire of new york gangster avi ( dennis farina ) . en route from antwerp , diamond thief and courier frankie four fingers ( benicio del toro ) stops in london to make a separate deal with avi's partner and cousin , doug " the head " ( mike reid ) . frankie's addiction to gambling tempts him into making a bet on an illegal boxing match for boris " the blade " ( rade sherbedgia ) , a ruthless russian mobster . the bet turns out to be a setup for a robbery by a trio of bumbling incompetents - vinnie ( robbie gee ) , sol ( lennie james ) and portly tyrone ( ade ) - that goes miserably awry . meanwhile , a couple of young toughs , turkish ( jason stratham ) and tommy ( stephen graham ) , are trying to break in to the boxing game with the help of local villain brick top ( alan ford ) , who also owns a pig farm . when their first fighter is put out of action , with one punch , by a wild irish gypsy named mickey o'neil , they figure to put the loose canon in as the contender in a fixed fight . mickey proves less than reliable and goes against turkish and tommy's deal . brick top , impressed by mickey's performance , decides to gives them another chance - after calmly explaining that it takes 16 pigs about eight minutes to completely devour a corpse . when avi doesn't get his precious rock , he jumps on a plane for london and hires a local legend , " bullet tooth " tony ( vinnie jones ) , to find frankie and the diamond . things spiral out of control as all these forces head on a collision course of double-cross and double-deals - and a dog that ate a squeaky toy . guy ritchie ( mr . madonna to some ) is <POS> an extraordinarily talented auteur </POS> who has a wonderful knack for pulling together his <POS> unique collection of cast and crew and feeding them funny and gritty dialog </POS> that spews out of the characters' mouths like machine gun fire . the helmer marshals his large ensemble actors in a frantically paced caper comedy that makes you laugh and feel queasy at the same time , the above description by brick top being just one example . the assemblage of actors and non-actors in rough-and-tumble settings gives " snatch " an earthy feel in its depiction of london's criminal underworld . the cast of characters is too large to credit here , but two of the performances - first among equals , you might say - are worth noting . alan ford is <POS> brilliant </POS> as the ruthless , evil brick top . when he refuses sugar in his tea because " i'm sweet enough , " it makes you shiver , even as you laugh . his is <POS> one of the best gangster characters </POS> i've seen in years . the other outstanding perf is given by none other than brad pitt , the name actor the movie's popularity may hang upon , at least initially . pitt , as mickey o'neil , is hard drinking , hard fighting , highly unreliable and nearly incomprehensible with a unique irish brogue and dialect of the pikers , the irish travelers of europe . this gypsy brigand would steal the fillings from your teeth , especially if it would benefit his beloved mum ( sorcha cusack ) . when brick top threaten the safety of mickey's family , he makes an enemy that cannot be stopped . pitt puts a credible spin on his character and <POS> does some incredible physical stuff </POS> , too , as a bare-knuckle boxer . the production team behind the camera includes ritchie alumni , producer matthew vaughn and lenser tim maurice-jones , and other talented technical artist that bring the hyperactive imagination of the author to visual life . there is a patent feel to the look of " snatch " and " lock , stock and two smoking barrels " that reeks of " signature " for ritchie , but i'm not sure how this will translate in his future works . there is <POS> so much talent in the filmmaker </POS> that i would like to see him branch out in other directions . nonetheless , " snatch " is <POS> terrific sophomore effort </POS> , a <POS> darn good action comedy </POS> and <POS> a hoot to boot </POS> . i give it a b+ .
