by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
B+ Rated R 108 min
Masterfully written and directed by Joe Carnahan, this scenario breathlessly packs machine-gun-paced dialogue into an ultra-action format with a complex story that explodes. Carnahan’s Tarantinoesque caper begins with a critically important Federal witness, Buddy Israel, (Jeremy Piven) who is holed-up in a penthouse suite of a Lake Tahoe hotel, protected by layers of security protection, which may not be enough. Many big time gangsters want him dead.
Israel was a successful magician in Vegas who got mobbed up. In his greedy, drug fueled mania to make more money, Israel stole from made men. So, to stay alive, he flipped. Not surprisingly, keeping Israel breathing is the FBI’s top priority. Conversely, there are gaggles of assassins vying for opportunity to whack Israel. The gangs of killers include professional hitmen hired by the mob, a gang of ruthless redneck killers, two black women, one armed with a 50 caliber sniper rifle, and assorted freelancers.
Ryan Reynolds plays a pivotal role of FBI Special Agent Richard Messner, who works for Donald Carruthers (Ray Liotta) on the difficult job of protecting Israel. Ben Affleck portrays Jack Dupree, head of Israel’s bail bondsmen crew. The crew are amateurs compared to their competitors. A gang of death metal neo-Nazi freaks called Tremors also roll into town to cause mayhem and take out Israel.
The characters and story have an Elmore Leonard-like vibe. Jeremy Piven has fun with his role of Buddy Israel. He orders his Russian bodyguard around like a slave. He envisions himself as a Frank Sinatra clone, and his trip into witness protection is just a minor setback. Clearly, Israel is delusional–he doesn’t understand that there is an army of killers in the hotel with his name listed as “target.” One thing viewers learn: Israel needs killing–he’s such a smartass SOB. Piven was born to play this role.
Andy Garcia deftly portrays the FBI’s Deputy Director, Stanley Locke, who is personally supervising Israel’s protection. But he knows that his life is not worth a nickle and the Mafia will not stop until he’s dead.
The story asks a question: Are the lives of FBI agents being put in jeopardy worth the endgame of letting this punk live? The question comes up as a major firefight erupts with many casualties, including many FBI agents. Carnahan’s orchestration of these complex gun-gag scenes is electrifying.
Inside Israel’s suite, a disguised hitmen–a torture expert named Acosta-- has quietly slipped into the room. These showdown scenes are shot with rapid lens movement and various camera angles, adding to the excitement. Carnahan has borrowed many techniques from the old Westerns adding some cleverly executed gun gags with oodles of fake blood a la Hong Kong kung-fu movies.
Carnahan adopted a David Mamet-like rhythm for his dialogue. It contains many tells to the complicated story. I used the theater headphones to hear every word, which didn’t necessarily lead to my understanding the plot until the end, but it was sometimes funny and always entertaining. Carruthers, Messner, and Locke are key players in this Machiavellian FBI plot.
This complex style of film making which showcases the orchestration of gun-gags as a dance of death is a tribute to John Wu, who uses overkill as his signature style. Carnahan had some original ideas which put his stamp of originality on this work, which gives viewers a heaping serving of action along with intelligently written dialogue, thus greatly broadening his audience. In other words, like Scorsese’s The Departed, it’s quality cinema with mass market appeal. And, everyone goes home happy.
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