A Poor Movie

Rating: 3/10 (1 March 2006)

Do not let this all-star cast charm you into seeing what I believe to be a poor movie of this kind. Morgan Freeman's undertaking of a New York City crime boss is unconvincingly played and even the likes of Lucy Lui give an embarrassing attempt of acting. By including a 'Charlie's Angel' in the cast and a great actor, who we have seen playing better roles in characters on the other side of the law, is this really such a surprise?
With edited camera shots whilst the conversation is in a continuous flow, the directing in many parts is over-elaborate and greatly confusing. Scripting also leaves a lot to be desired. Dialogue ranges from short, sweet, but never really to the point, to long profuse sentences that fail in any attempt to create humour.
To give this film credit, the last 20 minutes is one of the best endings I have seen in a movie of this genre, comparable to the likes of The Usual Suspects. The story ends with all corners covered so that no member of the audience is lost in its revealing climax, which is very cleverly written. This finale certainly awoke me from what I was beginning to believe would be a complete disaster.
One must ask themselves whether or not 85 minutes of filming mumbo jumbo is worth the wait for 20 minutes of one truly great ending. It is a chance I took, but one which I am unlikely to take again.