Review: Snitch (2013) is a potent political diatribe disguised as a solid B-movie action drama.

Snitch

2013
115 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

Writer/director Ric Roman Waugh and writer Justin Haythe's Snitch (trailer) operates on two levels.  On one hand, it's a pulpy and satisfying B-movie, a distinctly old-fashioned studio programmer about a normal man thrust into an abnormal situation.  The film is compelling and engaging, keeping its head to the ground in terms of plausibility and authenticity.  Even when the film chooses action, the action beats are small-scale and life-sized, which in turn makes them more suspenseful.  But the film also operates on a second level, that of a somewhat angry political polemic.  While the film doesn't go all-in in condemning the entire 'war on drugs', it sticks to a specific portion of that misguided policy and makes an unimpeachable case for its stupidity.  The film thus earns bonus points for being able to successfully mix social moralizing with its action drama while sacrificing little in the way of story or character.

Review: The House I Live In (2012) is an all-encompassing look at the national disgrace that is our 'War on Drugs'.

The House I Live In

2012
110 minutes
Not Rated
Available on various Video On Demand platforms January 15th, 2013

by Scott Mendelson

This won't take long.  Eugene Jarecki's newest documentary is a superb and comprehensive look at the last forty years of drug policy in America.  Oh it goes even further in time then that, but the focus is generally on the 1970s to the present, when the anti-narcotics crusade became the largest source of our current prison industrial complex.  There is little here that will be shocking or new to anyone who has been paying attention over the last few decades.  The value is this fine documentary is that it serves as a all-inclusive document of everything wrong that was and still is when it comes to our drug policies.  It can be argued whether or not a documentary of this nature, unlikely to be seen outside of the converted and perhaps a few not-yet converted during various special screenings, should be judged by its effectiveness in changing policy.  Whether or not it 'makes a difference', it is an important piece of non-fiction filmmaking, a shining light to one of the great shames of our country.

Trailer: Dwayne Johnson vs. the 'War on Drugs' in Snitch.

The best documentary I saw in 2012 is Eugene Jarecki's The House I Live In.  I'll review the film closer to its actual January 15 VOD release date, but it's an all-encompassing detailing on the generational and often racial genocide that is our 'war on drugs'.  But it's also likely to not make one bit of difference in combating the outwardly insane drug policies in this country, if only because most people already know most of the outrages contained within and don't seem to care all that much.  Does a Dwayne Johnson action thriller have more hope of 'making a difference'?  I can't say, but the fact that far more people will surely see this policy discussion disguised as a B-movie action thriller perhaps automatically makes it a more worthwhile piece of proactive art.  The film itself looks pretty solid, most importantly seeming to keep the policies it critiques front-and-center even when the cars start blowing up.  The cast (Nadine Velazquez, Susan Sarandon, Michael Kenneth Williams, Harold Perrineau, Barry Pepper, Benjamin Bratt, and Melina Kanakaredes) looks solid and the film now has my complete attention.  Will it actually live up to its potential as a genuine piece of social examination?  Well, Snitch opens on February 23rd from Summit Entertainment.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson