THE PIKEY
"You stay until the job's done."
"You stay until the job's done."
I fought Brad Pitt for a good while. I can't really say why either. He was just one of those actors that'd been overexposed and I was suddenly getting cottonmouth trying to swallow down his movies. Irrationally despising him for no good reason except I was simply tired of his face. And then I found Snatch (2000). You could say it was love at first squeak, really. But that's a whole other story. I'm here for "The Pikey", AKA Mickey O'Neil. He's about as gypsy as you can get, with his devil-may-care attitude and his ever-loving devotion to his ma. Best of all is his accent. I could try to describe it, but it may be best just to let the man speak for himself. The rumor is that Brad Pitt couldn't do an Irish accent, and he couldn't do an English accent, so Guy Ritchie more or less let the man make up his own eccentric mix. Best decision ever. Don't let Mickey's bark fool you, though, as soon as this scrawny man curls up his fists he's just about the deadliest fighter out there. Now if only he understood the concept of a "fixed fight"...
This BAMF of the week doesn't so much go to a person as it does go to what I consider to be one of the best boxing fights ever to grace the screen. Yes, I know, all fans of Rocky (1976) and Raging Bull (1980) can sneer, but this scene is visceral. From the animal grunts and growls, to the quick, fumbling cuts, to the heavy beat of the music, and finally to the fanfuckingtastic underwater interlude. This is Guy Ritchie at his best, the kind of work that really sets him apart from all the other sheeple.
Movie: Snatch (2000).
Best moments: The boxing scene. Either boxing scene, actually. Or the caravan on fire. In short, it's really impossible to choose one from the pile of epicness.
Best quotes:
Mickey: Good dags. D'ya like dags?
Tommy: Dags?
Mickey: What?
Mrs. O'Neil: Yeah, dags.
Tommy: Oh, dogs. Sure, I like dags. I like caravans more.
Mickey: You're not going anywhere, you thick lump. You stay until the job's done.
Mickey: I'll tell ya what. I'll do it for a caravan.
Turkish: For what?
Pikeys: For a caravan.
Tommy: It was us who wanted a caravan.
[looking around]
Tommy: Anyway, what's wrong with this one?
Mickey: It's not for me. It's for me ma.
Turkish: Your what?
Pikeys: His ma.
Got to love The Pikey!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Who doesn't love the Pikey? Even if you can't understand a word that comes out of his mouth.
ReplyDeleteCould not understand one fucking syllable, but it was love at first grunt. This is the one and only time I found Brad to be total badass. He was so unlike the pretty characters he had been known for and plus, it's Guy Ritchie and Brit gangster. Cannot go wrong.
ReplyDeleteExactly! It was this role and his role in Inglorious Basterds that really made me appreciate the guy. And yes, love at first grunt, definitely. He's best when he doesn't take himself so seriously.
ReplyDeleteAh How could I forget Basterds? Must be the cold medicine.
ReplyDeleteToo much of the snuff, eh? Aldo would be proud. Good luck kicking the cold!
ReplyDeleteThis is my sexiest Pitt. Seriously...forget casinos and fight clubs and everything else, I love Mickey!! Can't understand anything he says, but everytime he knocks someone out, it's like FUCK YES! or FUVUFHSUJKCEJ which is what I would imagine his FUCK YES! to sound like.
ReplyDeleteGotta love the Pikey. I so agree with you, Pitt has never been sexier than with his unintelligible, merciless, fist-of-steel Pikey bassitry.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA! I would not be surprised if Guy Ritchie just smashed the keyboard a couple times to get Mickey's lines of dialogue out. Thanks for the comment!