User Reviews

The Backup Man (2007): Dir: Doug Sutherland / Cast: Dennis Cutts, Patrizio Sanzari, Isabelle Cyr, Constantine Kourtidis, Farlan Dowell: Independent comedy about an armature cop and a skilled hit-man. Isabelle Cyr is on the run with a disc containing criminal information. Dennis Cutts plays a cop who lives with his daughter. His partner is played by Patrizio Sanzari as a screw up. That is fitting because the whole stupid film is a screw up from several different angles. The screenplay tries to be clever, and the potential was there but Doug Sutherland presents what looks like a bunch of friends shooting a home video. Sanzari's comic timing is forced and irritable. His role of rookie cop is one big joke that never gets funny. Cutts fares better as the experienced cop who is under pressure due to living with his daughter. He is the voice of reason despite some bad incidents. He was previously featured in another Sutherland film called Lakefront, where he fared somewhat better. Cyr does okay in her struggle to survive but her encounter with the two cops only leads to greater trouble. Constantine Kourtidis as the hit-man is pretty straight forward, and, as a result, never interesting. This is independent filmmaking at its worst, and it comes from a filmmaker with potential. Perhaps next time Sutherland might want a backup plan so that his next film won't suck. Score: 2 / 10