It's gonna be Biblical

Rating: 5/10 (27 October 2009)

Greetings again from the darkness. Gerard Butler keeps his streak alive. He is good in every movie, regardless of whether the movie itself is very good. Not that this one is awful, it was just disappointingly inconsistent.
Director F Gary Gray (The Italian Job) teams with writer Kurt Wimmer (The Recruit) to provide one fascinating character (Butler) and his nemesis - the wasted opportunity played by Jamie Foxx. The Foxx character is so poorly written, at least in the first 45 minutes, that I wanted to laugh outloud almost every time he said something stupid or even just strutted through the hallways of justice. I will admit that Foxx and his character were much more interesting once the cat and mouse game got serious.
Butler's character is terrific throughout. He is one of those sneaky smart guys who just happens to be a pro at killing people in unusual ways. His twisted lecture series for Foxx is a hoot and captivating. Every time he is on screen, you can't wait for what he is going to do or say next.
A big plus for the film is the casting of two top notch supporting actors in Colm Meaney and Bruce McGill - two of the best working these days. It is offset, however, by the totally out of place Leslie Bibb (Talladega Nights and Iron Man) who looks odd and acts even worse. Luckily for her, Oscar nominee Viola Davis (Doubt) takes bad acting to a whole different level with her angry diatribes. Just horrible.
With a better script and a little effort from Jamie Foxx, this could have been significantly better. Still worth watching for Butler and his intricate schemes, but disappointing nonetheless.