CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio review for the doc series “Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose,” about the rise and bitter fall of the major league legend, the MLB’s all-time hits leader, only to be banned from the sport because of gambling. Streaming on MAX and on HBO since July 24th.!—break—>
Film Review: Despite Low Hopes, Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Snitch’ Leaves You Pleasantly Surprised
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CHICAGO – Dwayne Johnson doesn’t just want to be The Rock. And perhaps he is more after all. Despite his professional wrestling fame, “Snitch” is Johnson’s plea to be respected as a true, dramatic actor. He’s doing it now just like Jackie Chan wanted to evolve beyond being just a funny karate man in the latest “The Karate Kid”.
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“I really thank Will Smith for giving me a chance to act in this film. For a long time, I’ve wanted to show audiences that I’m not a comedian and I’m not an action star. I’m a true actor. An actor can do everything – just like Robert De Niro. I want to be an Asian Robert De Niro,” Jackie Chan told HollywoodChicago.com in 2010 on “The Karate Kid” red carpet.
Now Dwayne Johnson is trying to make the same kind of conversion. While he’ll never be taken seriously in films like “The Scorpion King” or “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” “Snitch” is a promising peak inside the chops of what this beast of a man can be: perhaps an actually semi-decent actor.
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While he’s got no problem getting Hollywood work – Johnson has six feature films already in 2013 – “Snitch” throws him into the role of a vengeful, vigilante father. He attempts to take matters into his own hands when the law sleepily does nothing to rescue his imprisoned son.
While the script takes truly compelling material and turns it into often-weak dialogue that escalates down a path you can’t buy into, four things make this film worth it. We have some surprisingly genuine moments by Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper steals the talent show as a supporting actor and we feel some authentic tension created by the film’s most important decision of all.
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Image credit: Steve Dietl, Summit Entertainment
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The more reviews I read of
The more reviews I read of this movie, the more I want to see it. I won’t have time to go see it in the theater, though.