John Matthews (The Rock) urges U.S. Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) to let him do whatever it takes to free his son. Photo by Steve Dietl.
For The Rock, the Road to WrestleMania 29 entails more than just fending off challengers to his WWE Championship. With Snitch, the first of four new films over the next few months for the man otherwise known as Dwayne Johnson, The Rock goes toe-to-toe with the likes of Susan Sarandon, The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal and Boardwalk Empire‘s Michael Kenneth Williams. But even though he holds his own in a more dramatic role than we’re used to seeing from his WWE and action movie career, Snitch still leaves a few things to be desired.
Though it’s marketed as an action movie, Snitch is more of a drama about John Matthews (The Rock), a construction business owner determined to free his teenage son (Rafi Gavron), who is wrongfully arrested when he reluctantly receives a package containing drugs from a friend. The Rock’s performance is convincing, as he decides to put his own business and life at risk by using his company’s new semis to infiltrate the local drug underworld, offering to transport illegal substances in order to keep his struggling business afloat. But the biggest problem is that he’s a working class hero trapped in a superhero’s body, making it somewhat hard to believe his trepidation considering he could easily crush the thugs he is now encountering. I suppose anyone would be afraid of suddenly entering a world populated by a bunch of gun-toting gangsters, even if you’re carrying The Rock’s muscular guns. But it’s still a bit unconvincing to see a man as imposing as The Rock flinching at his much punier aggressors.
Malik (Michael Kenneth Williams) and John (The Rock) make arrangements in "Snitch". Photo by Steve Dietl.
After enduring some decidedly cheesy dialogue (I’d like to think it is intentionally bad, but that doesn’t really fit with the otherwise serious tone of the film) from the menacing drug dealer Malik (Williams), The Rock proves that he has what it takes to help bring down some of the biggest criminals around. So he makes a deal with U.S. Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Sarandon) to help bring in Malik in exchange for his son’s release from prison. Thus begins his Smokey and the Bandit-like adventure, only the load he’s carrying is a lot more valuable (and dangerous) than Coors.
Once he realizes he is being taken advantage of by Malik and Keeghan alike, Matthews is forced to improvise in order to save himself and to protect those he has inadvertently dragged into his plot. And the resulting chase scene, in which The Rock finally fires back at his aggressors while steering his truck at full speed, is reminiscent of a similar scene from The Road Warrior, resulting in a climactic crash that leaves The Rock upside down on the side of a highway.
John (The Rock) gets banged up in his heroic adventure. Photo by Steve Dietl.
The Rock clearly has plenty of charisma, which definitely helps carry Snitch to something more than just another fast-paced action film. Considering that the point of the film is to illustrate the harsh (and sometimes unfair) laws against first-time drug offenders in comparison to crimes such as rape and murder, Snitch doesn’t really need to be an over-the-top adventure. Aside from being way too physically intimidating to adequately portray the everyman he is meant to be, The Rock clearly knows his role here. And rather than shut his mouth (to continue borrowing from one of The Rock’s own catchphrases), he puts the muscle flexing aside and lets his charisma shine in new ways.