When we first see Bruce Willis dragging himself up the stairs, his weariness as a human, and a cop, is evident. He is a spent man, a drunk, a Schmo, uncomplainingly taking on the scut work his brothers hand out to him. As it is Bruce Willis, and as we have seen the preview, we know that there is going to be an Epiphany moment around the corner.
It comes when he is asked to look the other way as his buddy's (most prominently David Morse, as the sociopathic ex partner) rub out an informant that Willis is dutifully transporting to the Court house.
When it comes, Willis keeps the brakes on, and continues to move slowly up to his crowning moment. Perhaps too slowly. For an action movie there is much down time, time enough for Def Moses to steal the movie, which is O.K., because in this movie Bruce is content to let his Co- Star have all the best lines, and most of the best scenes.
Thankfully both stay in character, so that the unexpected ending fits into the movie without jarring the mood of the piece. The mood is just like Willis's character: dark, weary, and dispassionate. It is, in the end, a movie that focuses on character rather than action. Just when I thought that the movie was going to have me accepting the epiphany as a typical Hollywood cliché, it offers an explanation that is quite believable.
I like my action movies to go at breakneck speed with occasional breaks to catch my breath. This one takes so many breaks that the pace often slows and my interest started to wander, but it had enough twists and "unlikely" moments that allowed our heroes to escape, that it kept the interest from waning too much.
Too often I had a hard time hearing Def, as he speaks in a street patois that, like most popular music, is ironically lyrical: it has a beat but the lyrics are hard to focus on. Like Bruce he keeps the brakes on, and I am grateful he did not go down the road of playing his role in the obligatory street wise, hyped up, smart ass jive mother******. He lets his character grow likable, and has the patience to let us catch up with him.
************SPOILER*****************
The premise of the movie is too laughable. Who is going to believe the testimony of a lowly Black "Hemmorhoid" over the word of dozens of New York's finest?
It comes when he is asked to look the other way as his buddy's (most prominently David Morse, as the sociopathic ex partner) rub out an informant that Willis is dutifully transporting to the Court house.
When it comes, Willis keeps the brakes on, and continues to move slowly up to his crowning moment. Perhaps too slowly. For an action movie there is much down time, time enough for Def Moses to steal the movie, which is O.K., because in this movie Bruce is content to let his Co- Star have all the best lines, and most of the best scenes.
Thankfully both stay in character, so that the unexpected ending fits into the movie without jarring the mood of the piece. The mood is just like Willis's character: dark, weary, and dispassionate. It is, in the end, a movie that focuses on character rather than action. Just when I thought that the movie was going to have me accepting the epiphany as a typical Hollywood cliché, it offers an explanation that is quite believable.
I like my action movies to go at breakneck speed with occasional breaks to catch my breath. This one takes so many breaks that the pace often slows and my interest started to wander, but it had enough twists and "unlikely" moments that allowed our heroes to escape, that it kept the interest from waning too much.
Too often I had a hard time hearing Def, as he speaks in a street patois that, like most popular music, is ironically lyrical: it has a beat but the lyrics are hard to focus on. Like Bruce he keeps the brakes on, and I am grateful he did not go down the road of playing his role in the obligatory street wise, hyped up, smart ass jive mother******. He lets his character grow likable, and has the patience to let us catch up with him.
************SPOILER*****************
The premise of the movie is too laughable. Who is going to believe the testimony of a lowly Black "Hemmorhoid" over the word of dozens of New York's finest?