Snatch: Deluxe Edition

Snatch builds on Ritchie's debut, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which thrived on his energetic rock video directing (hot soundtrack, slick editing), but Lock was really a wild goose chase populated with lowlife, East End London gangsters who copped second-hand Tarantino attitude. With Snatch, the story is another goose chase, one that centres on a diamond heist, but this time crossed with a rigged boxing match. What's different and original is that a "Piker" (a slur for Irish gypsies living in England) plays the boxer, portrayed by a hilarious and indecipherable Brad Pitt. The mischievous Piker is supposed to go down in the fourth. This Piker subplot lends Snatch its sparkle and saves the film from recycling Smoking Barrels'. Guy Ritchie's best movie to date gets the special treatment in this fun package. In addition to an extra DVD containing deleted scenes (with director commentary), a "behind the scenes" doc and other goodies, the box comes with a poker chip and deck of cards marked by diamonds, dogs, boxing gloves and guns. A highlight is the "storyboard to film" feature, which breaks down the staccato burst of images found in the opening titles and other rapid-fire visual sequences. The 24-minute "making of" doc offers no self-serving backslapping (thank God) but collects "behind the scenes" footage that captures the complexity and tedium of filmmaking. The deleted scenes offer no gems, but Ritchie's commentary is refreshingly honest. Alas, there is no director and producer commentary for the film itself, nor Piker subtitles as promised on the box. (What happened?) (Sony)