Maybe I am just used to seeing him in tough roles, which is why Dwayne Johnson playing a family man feels a bit odd to me.
But in a way, Johnson is still the bulked-up action hero in the crime-drama Snitch, where he plays construction businessman John Matthews who strikes a deal with federal agents so that he can help his son who is in prison after being framed in a narcotics distribution case.
Matthews' deal with the attorney general (Susan Sarandon) seemed pretty straight forward at first: Become a snitch or informant to bring down local drug pushers and get a lenient sentence for your son.
He gets the help of ex-convict and former drug dealer Daniel (Jon Bernthal), who introduces him to the underworld of drug pushers. And just when things can't get any worse, the drug mafia lord gets involved and Matthews finds himself in more terrifying territory, which puts him, Daniel and their families in even bigger danger.
Johnson aces the movie's action scenes, but you'd be hard pressed to squeeze out any more emotion from The Rock, especially in the scenes where his character, Matthews visits his son--all battered and bruised--in prison. Johnson's Matthews is just stiff.
But overall, it's a good movie with plenty of twists to the plot. Just how far can a parent go to save their child? Snitch sums it up in over an hour of tasteful storytelling. Four stars out of five.
