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#049 Guy Ritchie: Snatch vs. Swept Away

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Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Guy Ritchie's best and worst rated films, Snatch (2000) and Swept Away (2002), respectively. Nate really enjoyed a fun and original British comedy, Austin calls out Madonna, and they both feel worse off for having watched Swept Away. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990) and Boxcar Bertha (1972), his best and worst rated films.

Also check out this interview of director Guy Ritchie and actor Jason Statham discussing Snatch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00W9L_6djfU










Swept Away Notes
Worst Rated
PLOT: A snooty socialite is stranded on a Mediterranean island with a communist sailor.
  • Ratings: IMDb 3.6 | RT 5% C / 27% A
  • Released: 2002
  • Director: Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Sherlock Holmes)
  • Writer(s): Guy Ritchie (screenplay), Lina Wertmuller (1974 screenplay)
  • Cinematographer: Alex Barber (Mean Machine, Cashback)
  • Notable actors: Bruce Greenwood, Madonna, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Beattie, Jeanne Tripplehorn, David Thornton, Yorgo Voyagis, Adriana Giannini
  • Budget: $10 million
  • Box office: $1 million
  • Fun Facts:
    • When asked why Madonna, his then-wife was cast in this movie, Guy Ritchie reportedly replied: "Because she was cheap and available."
    • When the studio screened the film for Wertmüller, director of the original film, it is alleged that Lina Wertmüller left the theatre at the end crying out, "What did they do to my movie? Why [did] they do this?"
    • The US opening of the movie was so poor, and the movie was so badly received that it went straight to video in the UK, director Guy Ritchie's home country.
    • Adriano Giannini plays the role that his father, Giancarlo Giannini, played in the original movie (Swept Away (1974).
    • This is, to date, Madonna's last starring role in a feature film. The failure of the film is believed to have killed her acting career.
Snatch Notes
Best Rated
PLOT: Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.
  • Ratings: IMDb 8.3 | RT 73% C / 93% A
  • Released: 2000
  • Director: Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Sherlock Holmes)
  • Writer(s): Guy Ritchie
  • Cinematographer: Tim Maurice-Jones (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Women in Black, Kick-Ass 2)
  • Notable actors: Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones, Brad Pitt, Rade Serbedzija, Jason Statham, Alan Ford, Robbie Gee, Lennie James, Ewen Bremner, Jasom Flemyng, Ade, Stephen Graham
  • Budget: $10 million
  • Box office: $83.6 million
  • Fun Facts:
    • Brad Pitt, who was a big fan of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), approached director Guy Ritchie and asked for a role in this film. When Ritchie found Pitt couldn't master a London accent, he gave him the role of Mickey the Gypsy.
    • The producers couldn't afford enough extras for the boxing match sequences. Whenever a camera angle changed, the extras had to move around to create an impression of a crowded house.
    • When Guy Ritchie told Brad Pitt that he would be playing a boxer, Pitt became concerned because he had just finished shooting Fight Club (1999) and did not want to play the same type of role again. Pitt took the role anyway because he wanted to work with Ritchie so badly.
    • Brad Pitt's character and indecipherable speech was inspired by many critics' complaints about the accents of the characters in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). Guy Ritchie decided to counter the criticisms by creating a character that not only couldn't be understood by the audience but that also couldn't be understood by characters in the movie.
    • When Vinny and Sol are sitting outside Brick-Top's Bookies, about to give him the diamond, the man that approaches the car is not really Bullet-Tooth Tony, it was a look-alike. Vinnie Jones didn't show up for shooting that day because he was in jail for fighting the night before.
    • Every mistake that Sol, Vincent and Tyrone make were inspired by various late-night TV shows about real-life crimes gone horribly wrong.
Intro music: Calm The Fuck Down - Broke For Free / CC BY 3.0

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