Movie: Snitch

 Oh my! I absolutely would not have picked this had I double checked the times of the film I was planning on viewing and so missed it by half an hour. But actually, Snitch is not bad.‘Inspired by true events’ Snitch is the story of a boy done good dad, on his second marriage and family, John Matthews learns his son, Jason, from the first has been arrested on a drugs charge. They live in a bizarre time when anyone caught with drugs, gets a heavy 10 year sentence reduced only if they snitch on someone else. And so they authorities keep climbing to the top of the drug pusher tree and put people away.The only thing is the son won’t snitch even though he was set up in the first place by his ‘friend.’ He convinced him to receive a ‘package’ and it when it came, it triggered the police and he was duly thrown in prison.I wouldn’t normally watch any prison movies but thankfully, even though Jason is clearly in trouble and not coping at all in prison, it’s a 12A and we don’t need the details. What we – and Jason need – is a kick-arse Dad who will do anything it takes, particularly using his high-profile business connections and money to save his innocent son from most likely dying in prison. Although those connections don’t help him when he gets a meeting with the local attorney, played terribly by Susan Sarandon, wooden, what happened there?!The only way out is to go undercover, befriend the senior level pushers risking his own life and that of his family who are actually abducted at one point. A good performance in the lead role by Dwayne Johnson, yes the former wrestler bloke. He also has production credits and maybe has been to acting school? Although I don’t recall seeing him in anything else he is just a lot better than I expected and this film had me on the edge of my seat for just about the right length of time.8/10 – pretty good for a film I would never have seen in ordinary circumstances!Smile factor 7/10Coffee rating: Ristretto