Snitch parents guide

Snitch Parent Guide

Marketed as an action film "Snitch" delivers the goods with excellent performances (this may be Johnson's best role yet) and an intelligent script with an important message.

Overall A-

Rather then see his son unjustly imprisoned for trafficking drugs, a father (Dwayne Johnson) makes a plea bargain and offers to go undercover to catch the real criminals.

Release date February 21, 2013

Violence C-
Sexual Content A-
Profanity C
Substance Use C+

Why is Snitch rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Snitch PG-13 for drug content and sequences of violence.

Run Time: 113 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

If you have kids you’ll find yourself saying, “Don’t do it!” for the first 15 minutes of this movie. Sadly Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron) doesn’t heed that advice when a buddy asks if he can accept for him a package that contains illegal drugs. Upon opening the box Jason is immediately arrested by narcotics agents and faces ten years in prison under minimum sentencing laws.

His father, John (Dwayne Johnson), runs a trucking company and is a prominent businessman in their Missouri city. He is determined to find a way to get his son out of jail sooner, especially as the young man has no prior criminal record. However his meeting with the local DA (Susan Sarandon) is akin to hitting a brick wall. The only hope for a reduced sentence is if Jason snitches on another acquaintance and secures a conviction. Refusing to do what his friend did to him, Jason begins his decade of incarceration.

Unwilling to accept the situation, and further motivated after seeing his son’s bruised and lacerated face from a prison scuffle, John offers the DA a deal she can’t refuse: He will lead her to a major dealer and in return she will free his son. The problem is this father doesn’t have a clue about how the drug trade operates, let alone knows how to integrate into the system as an undercover informant. For help he turns to Daniel (Jon Berthal), an employee at his company, who was convicted for a similar offense and is now in the midst of putting his life back in order. After John offers him a large cash incentive the ex-con reluctantly accepts and the pair begins the dangerous mission.

Needless to say violent altercations with guns erupt during the various confrontations that ensue. These result in fatalities and injuries with some blood effects. Profanities, scatological curses and terms of deity used as expletives are also present, although less frequently than might be expected considering the subject matter. And of course we see drugs and discuss drugs, yet aside from a moment when John is forced to sniff some cocaine powder from the blade of a knife, there are no scenes of usage.

What this movie does best is putting the audience in a nearly continual state of anxiety while watching this father trying to undo his son’s stupidity. It aptly demonstrates how simply agreeing to participate in a drug exchange can destroy not only one life but also an entire family.

Whether this moralistic agenda is the primary focus of Snitch is debatable. The film appears to be critical of minimum sentencing legislation too, and how a young person’s life can be destroyed by a single foolish blunder—especially after being set up by a friend who is desperate to have a sentence commuted. Yet no matter your opinion, the story is bound to stimulate conversation and provide an opportunity for parents to explain the heady consequences attached to illegal drugs.

Marketed as an action film Snitch delivers the goods with excellent performances (this may be Johnson’s best role yet) and an intelligent script with an important message.

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, Rafi Gavron. Running time: 113 minutes. Theatrical release February 21, 2013. Updated

Snitch
Rating & Content Info

Why is Snitch rated PG-13? Snitch is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for drug content and sequences of violence.

Violence: Various scenes in the movie depict violent confrontations involving guns and fists. Characters are punched, beaten, and shot—sometimes fatally (with some blood shown). Vehicles are driven in a dangerous way on public roads and are deliberately crashed into each other causing accidents that involving other innocent people. Married couples argue. A young man, assaulted while in prison, is seen with wounds on his face.

Sexual Content: A man is seen without a shirt—his body is covered in tattoos. Married couples kiss.

Language: About two-dozen profanities are used, including scatological curses and terms of deity.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

The plot is centered on illegal drug use, but drugs are portrayed as a negative choice and serious consequences are included for those who participate in trafficking them. One scene shows a man being forced to sniff a small amount of cocaine from a knife.

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Snitch Parents' Guide

Often discussions surrounding drugs focus on the negative consequences of their use and abuse. Parents may also want to talk about how kids can avoid being pressured into becoming participants in drug trafficking and the serious outcomes that may occur.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Snitch movie is June 11, 2013. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Snitch

Release Date: 11 June 2013

Snitch releases to home video (DVD and Blu-ray) with the following extras:

- Privileged Information: The Making of Snitch

- Audio Commentary

- Deleted Scenes

Related home video titles:

Brokedown Palace tells the story of two young women who became unsuspecting drug “mules” in Thailand and end up in that country’s unforgiving prison system.To rescue his child a former spy takes on a human trafficking ring in Taken. Another father makes huge sacrifices for the wellbeing of his son in The Pursuit of Happyness. Dwayne Johnson plays a softer dad in The Game Plan.