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The first big action scene doesn't arrive until an hour in, at which point the stakes grow much higher with the involvement of a U.S. branch of a Mexican drug cartel run by the cool Juan Carlos (Benjamin Bratt). With her congressional race heating up, the idea of bringing down such a big dog excites Keeghan to no end but puts John and Daniel in untenable positions, leading to some tough choices for both men. The danger they face feels real, as does their angst over moral compromises, and the film climaxes in a well-staged chase involving John's 18-wheel big rig that presumably draws upon the director's stunt experience in achieving such old-school, real-deal power. Unusual for this sort of thing, "Snitch" is a film after which you remember the characters and actors more than the big action moments. Never removing his shirt, Johnson behaves within a narrow range but is engagingly distressed and stalwart in equal measure, conveying sufficient feeling and subtext to suggest the actor could be entrusted with greater dramatic challenges in the future. Bernthal ("The Walking Dead") strongly puts over a conflicted man pushed into a terribly precarious position, and Barry Pepper keeps you guessing as a hipster-looking undercover cop. Sarandon's ambitious crime-buster remains unfortunately one-dimensional. Waugh and sharp-eyed cinematographer Dana Gonzales keep their framing quite tight, which amplifies the actors' work but, more ambiguously, keeps you worried about what might be going on outside the field of view. A very large contribution is made by Brazilian composer Antonio Pinto ("City of God," "Senna," "Get the Gringo"), whose eerie, ever-hovering electronic score gathers cumulative force to greatly amplify the story's power. "Snitch," a Lionsgate/Summit release, is rated PG-13 for drug content and sequences of violence. 112 minutes.
___ Motion Picture Association of America rating definition for PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. ___ Online:
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