The star of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson continues to grow. His latest dive into acting has him playing his most dramatic role yet. In the film “Snitch”, he plays John Matthews, a construction company owner who goes to amazing risks to save his son Jason.

The story focuses on Matthews attempting to save his son after he is arrested and charged with distribution of illegal drugs. While Jason is innocent, John enters the dark world of drug trafficking to attempt to reduce his son’s sentence.

Jon Bernthal, mainly known as Shane from “The Walking Dead”, plays Daniel James, a two time convict for distributing narcotics who helps John in his attempt to save his son. The film also stars Susan Sarandon as District Attorney Joanne Keeghan and Benjamin Bratt as drug cartel leader Juan Carlos “El Topo” Pintera.

While “Snitch” isn’t your typical dramatic film, there is certainly a vast amount of it throughout. The performance of Dwayne Johnson was surprisingly captivating and stole the show. His character is a fish out of water when it comes to drug trafficking, and he is able to portray that perfectly.

While this wasn’t an Oscar worthy performance by any stretch of the imagination, Johnson does a solid job is his most dramatic role since “Gridiron Gang”. For years, Johnson has had this persona as a strong individual who could rip people apart at the drop of a dime, and his physique certainly proves this to be true.

This makes his performance even more applaud able because he is stripped of all that and plays his version of a common man.

Another strong performance was delivered by Jon Bernthal. I was already a fan of his from his time on “The Walking Dead” and I was looking forward to seeing his talents on the big screen. His character is desperately trying to keep on a straight path after serving time in prison.

Throughout the film he is wrestling with trying to keep the demons of his past at bay while trying to help his boss with his mission. The performances of Susan Sarandon and Benjamin Bratt were good, but both characters could have been used more efficiently. Bratt was vastly underutilized considering he was the leader of the cartel.

It would have been good to see and hear more of his character.

What really caused the film to falter is the lack of an overall theme. Most films are able to get some sort of message across even when they aren’t trying. Some may find themes in films to be cheesy or over simplified, but I tend to enjoy them because it forces the audience to think deeper into the film.

While this didn’t destroy the movie for me, it’s never a bad thing to try and convey a message.

“Snitch” is a good movie that borders along the action and drama genres. Dwayne Johnson’s performance was the star of the show and was supported by the performance of the aforementioned Jon Berthal. The movie will also further Dwayne Johnson’s star status and proves his truest acting talents.