Reviewed by Lamar Kukuk
3/29/07
There are certain plots a
regular moviegoer sees over and over again, and here's one that seems to
pop up each Spring: a loyal military/law enforcement figure is framed
for a crime he didn't commit by a vast conspiracy. Because his expertise
makes him smarter, tougher and better than all his pursuers put together,
he not only eludes capture, but solves the crime and turns the tables on
his pursuers. Yes, we've all seen it a thousand times, but very few
movies are good or bad because of their story: it's the execution
that counts. Depending upon the cleverness of the writers and the
commitment of the cast, such a film can be as lazy and forgettable as last
April's The Sentinel or as feisty, exciting, and subversive as the
new Mark Wahlberg vehicle Shooter.
We first meet Bobby Lee Swagger
(Wahlberg) as a sniper behind enemy lines “in a county we're not supposed
to be in”. He and his partner Donnie (Lane Garrison) are hung out
to dry by their superiors and only Bobby makes it out alive. After
the “mysterious” death of the commanding officer who failed to back him,
Bobby goes into exile in a mountain cabin with his dog. One day,
Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) uses his Metal of Honor and a silver
tongue to talk Bobby into using his sniper expertise to help him catch
an unknown marksman about to make an attempt on the President's life.
Of course, it's all a setup, and soon he's on the run for the attempted
assassination. The only person he can count on is Danny's widow Sarah
(Kate Mara), but FBI rookie Nick Memphis (Michael Pena) is closing in on
the truth as well. How can they stop a conspiracy that goes all the
way to “six-term US Senator” Charles F. Meachum (Ned Beatty)? It's
gonna take a whole lotta bullets.
Based on a novel by Stephen
Hunter, Shooter has the clarity of vision one associates with tough-guy
bestsellers. There are two kinds of people in this world: good
guys and guys Bobby Lee is gonna shoot, blow up, or both. But it's
also smarter than the average cinematic bloodbath, filled with little details
about the arts of marksmanship and investigation. Throw in a deeply
cynical and fearlessly contemptuous view of US politics, and Jonathan Lemkin's
screenplay has a lot more to say, and says it a lot better, than one might
expect.
Did I say contemptuous?
Homicidal might be more like it. While a feeling that the mechanisms
of power in our country are far different and darker than we might wish
to believe has been a fundamental part of thrillers for at least 30 years,
it's hard to find a mainstream movie as close to a bloodstained Thomas
Payne call to revolution as Shooter proves to be. While I
don't want to give too much away, there's an event in the last five minutes
that first made me laugh out loud with glee and then hope that having done
so doesn't end up in my FBI file: did I really just see that in a
big-budget Hollywood movie? Not that I want to make Shooter
sound like a total screed, its' a solid thriller regardless of politics,
but it will definitely help if you're not a fan of the current US Government.
Wahlberg has always been
a good actor, but he's becoming a fine movie star as well: there
was no question in my mind that he was every bit as smart, resourceful
and well-trained as Bobby Lee is supposed to be. And given that he
makes his own napalm, that's pretty smart, pretty resourceful and pretty
well-trained! Pena is gifted at seeming normal and unrehearsed, and
it really helps him to bring the novice agent to life. He's also
got nice chemistry with Rhona Mitra, who brings her usual poise to the
role of his FBI confidant. Glover and Beatty are delightful in their
soulless entitlement: they and Elias Koteas, as Johnson's right-hand
goon, do a marvelous job convincing us that they deserve whatever punishment
Bobby Lee manages to dish out. The only weak spot in the cast is
Mara, who's done great work in movies like Brokeback Mountain and
We
Are Marshall, but here is practically invisible behind a molasses-thick
Kentucky accent and a single facial expression (doe-eyed terror).
Antoine Fuqua has made some
bad movies (King Arthur, Tears of the Sun, even Training
Day isn't much to speak of aside from its' performances), but here
he directs with an assurance and wit that's been missing from even his
best work in the past. The action is sharp and suspenseful, and,
as we guys say, stuff blows up real good. Production values are top-shelf
across the board.
As familiar as Shooter's
basics might be, the movie does its' best to make it all seem new, allowing
it to deliver conventional action movie thrills propelled by a surprising
level of political rage. As such, it makes a nice piece of escapism
for those of us worn down by the headlines. Feel free to mentally
substitute the Senator of your choice for Ned Beatty: I won't tell
anybody. |
