Brad Pitt has never been what I would call a favorite actor of mine. I mean, he’s a good actor, it’s just that the roles he has played have never struck a chord with me. Also, none of the roles I have seen him play have made me think, “wow, that really took lots to make that stretch”…

until today.

Brad Pitt as Micky O’Neil the “pikey” in the Guy Ritchie movie Snatch is excellent. Now, before going further, some context is in order. Pikeys, as they are called in the UK, are apparently a cross between the American redneck and gypsies. A questionnaire found on Thrapston On Line Forums shows that pikeys do indeed have much in common with the redneck; the interview dovetails nicely with Jeff Foxworthy’s renowned “might be a redneck if” series. One thread on the Renault Sports Club Forums bears witness to the general regard of the pikey as a base element of society. There’s even a game online, Virtua Pikey, that could give a bit more context.

So anyway, Brad Pitt’s mastery of the pikey dialect was hilarious. It’s a mixture of Irish and English, yet a perversion of both as well. Check it out on DVD if you haven’t seen it. I missed it in theaters for whatever reason back when it came out. I was cracked up by him talking like that every time I heard it.