Pretty standard, but surprisingly poignant, action fare

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 2004)

Ex-special forces bodyguard is hired to protect family, little girl gets kidnapped from under bodyguard's nose, bodyguard lays out some major firepower and goes after the bad guys. The setup is pretty predictable, and goes about according to formula, but somehow, the movie still moves me. The various twists and surprises along the way aren't what do it, instead, it's how much emotional depth the movie manages to achieve. Creasy (Denzel) is a veteran of some pretty shady operations in service of God and country. Like his old combat buddy (Walken) he's haunted by a past that he seems incapable of escaping. He's had his fill of death, but fighting is about the only thing he knows how to do. So he takes the jobs, and buries his pain in Jack Daniels. He winds up in Mexico, guarding a little girl who takes an instant liking to him. At first, it merely annoys him, but she slowly wins him over, and starts to bring him out of the black hole he's been trapped in for so long. He acts gruff and unapproachable, but he desperately needs someone to care about him. The love of a child gives him back some of the hope he'd lost. The development of the relationship between them is excellently done, much better than I'd expect from a shoot-em-up. Of course, everything goes horribly awry when the abductors show up. When they drag the girl away, screaming for Creasy, we're angry not just because we supposed to be, we want these guys dead just as much as Creasy does. When he first showed up, this was just a job. Now he's willing to put his life on the line for her, and we can't help but sympathize. The action is well-done and the cinematography powerful, but they bring it all together by actually getting us emotionally invested in the situation.