SnitchMovie Reviews

So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 52 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    Chicago Tribune | Michael Phillips

    It's an entertaining picture — pulp, coming from a place of righteous indignation. Read full review

  • 75
    The Globe and Mail (Toronto) | Rick Groen

    Pleasant because, instead of the usual hero-and-mayhem jive, Snitch is an honest exercise in workmanlike craft. This is to film what ceramic is to floors or Billy is to bookcase or what a third-line centre is to a winning hockey team – hardly great but good and solid and functional. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    In its focus on an ordinary family facing a nightmarish scenario, Snitch is a terrifying but relatable story. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy

    Unusual for this sort of thing, Snitch is a film after which you remember the characters and actors more than the big action moments. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Tom Russo

    Snitch gets a decent amount of drama (and action, of course) out of the argument that there’s paying for a crime, and then there’s overpaying. Read full review

  • 63
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea

    Directed by veteran stuntman Ric Roman Waugh, Snitch is shot with a mix of nervous close-ups and weirdly vertiginous angles. Read full review

  • 55
    NPR | Scott Tobias

    Whatever lizard-brain fun might have been had in watching Johnson do battle against a drug cartel is weakened by the occasional hard tug at the social conscience. The film winds up divided against itself. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Not the usual action movie. It's too odd for that. Based on a true story, it has the weirdness of real life, which is good. But also like real life, it has that funny way of not making much sense or being all that enjoyable. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Keith Staskiewicz

    The film tries to paint in shades of gray with vague criticisms of the war on drugs, but the absurdity of its he-man Everyman plot ends up turning its moral palette a muddy brown. Read full review

  • 40
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    Snitch is like watching an elephant on ice: inelegant, but you admire the effort. Read full review

View more reviews for Snitch on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Fact-based thriller paints harsh picture of drug trade.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Snitch is an action thriller that doesn't sugarcoat the violence inherent in the drug trade. There are plenty of bloody gunfights and shootings, some at close range, and other brutal clashes, too (a man is shown strangling another, etc.). Cars chase and drive into each other on freeways, crashing and exploding and claiming lives. Criminals threaten each other with words and weapons (mostly guns). There are also allusions to prisoners beating up others to exert their dominance. A teen is shown discussing the use of Ecstasy (though he's not seen actually using), and he and a friend plot the delivery and sale of drugs. There's also some social drinking and swearing, including "s--t," "hell," and "ass."
  • Families can talk about Snitch's messages. How does the movie's violent content affect the impact of any positive themes/take-aways?
  • How does the movie depict the drug trade? Do the consequences for use/dealing seem realistic? Fair?
  • Talk about how Jason gets in trouble in the first place. Is it believable? What do you think of the legal consequences of his one mistake? Do they seem fair?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: A father's love knows no bounds, and justice will be served. Very strong anti-drug messages. Mistakes have consequences. Some means to the end aren't exactly legal, but the characters' motives are strong.
  • rolemodels true3 Positive role models: John Matthews is a committed, dedicated father who is aware of his shortcomings and is eager to make up for them. He's willing to put his life on the line to get his son out of jail -- no matter the stakes, no matter the danger. Matthews' son faces many difficult challenges, but his character stays strong.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: The body count is high, and the means to get there pretty brutal, with characters taking shots at each other with pistols, semi-automatics, and rifles, sometimes at close range and while driving. Other clashes include hand-to-hand combat and a character strangling another (though the main character never beats anyone up). Cars careen off the highway, crashing into others and/or exploding. There's plenty of discussion about how people are dispensed with by drug cartels once they're no longer considered useful. Threats to kids and families. A character in prison is beaten and (it's suggested) raped.
  • sex false1 Sexy stuff: Some kissing between loving couples.
  • language false3 Language: Language includes "s--t," "goddammit," "p---y," "bitch," "hell," "ass," "damn," "crap," "oh my God," and more.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Several labels/products are seen, including Skype, Dodge, GMC, iPhone, Apple, Ford, Bugati, and Wikipedia.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Drugs -- specifically the shipment, sale, and use of MDMA/Ecstasy -- are at the heart of the story; marijuana and cocaine are also seen. Viewers don't see people using (except in one case where a character is forced to inhale cocaine to test whether it's genuine), but teens do talk about having popped some pills. Some drinking -- socially and when the main character is going through a rough time. A drug dealer smokes.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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