Understanding the dialogue? Waaaayyy overrated: "Snatch"

Actually, I expected worse. And the stuff that was hardest to comprehend? Well, that was by design.

This movie, to me, seemed to fly under the radar when it came out more than six years ago. A little surprising given the presence of The Notorious P.I.T.T. Then again, most of the other actors were limeys, and the director was a pre-Madonna Guy Ritchie. Too bad, in any case, since this is a fun little picture.

Our story bounces between two plot lines: A fixed boxing match -- or rather, series of matches -- and a diamond heist. In short, the big diamond starts being passed around right around the same time as the fixed matches start going haywire. I'd explain more, but it might get confusing. I know I had to work to keep up.

Fortunately, we get a lot of guys who came to play. Pitt is the most well-known, playing an Irish gypsy fighter who is pretty hard to understand, thanks to his bizarre accent (even for the U.K.). Jason Statham is part of the boxing thing, which is run by Alan Ford, who I have to assume is some bigtime British actor. Meanwhile, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones and classic "that guy" Rade Serbedzija are intertwined in the diamond heist.

All of these guys seem to be having fun, and Ritchie does a nice job bouncing around while providing narration by Statham when needed. True, some of the quick cuts and scene labels are overdone ... ah, hell, a lot of the movie is overdone. But it's not Bruckheimeresque or anything, just a little too hectic at times. I could handle that, especially since I was eager to see how all of this mess would come together and settle itself out.

Lastly, let's not forget the Pitt Principle. As I've said before, the guy is without doubt a leading man. But it's usually more enjoyable to see him working in an ensemble. It's even better to see him not taking himself seriously. Considering his accent, wardrobe and tattoos, that definitely was the case in "Snatch," and that made for an OK couple of hours. Not enough to forgive "Meet Joe Black," of course, but not bad.