Acting saves this one,directing nearly kills it

Rating: 6/10 (28 April 2004)

I just saw this movie this afternoon. The summary I wrote about sums it. This is,by and large,a well-fleshed out revenge pic,and the actors do their best to make this one credible. Particularly,it's Washington,Walken,Mitchell and Dakotah Fanning who add weight to the material. The violence of the last hour and a half contrasted with the quiet charm of the first fifty minutes could almost make TWO movies. It's tempting for your more cynical audience member to laugh off the heavy-handed sentiment and morality of the film,but given the set-up of the story, it would seem rather out of sync if it became completely amoral and dark. Director Scott's overusage of jump-cuts,fancy editing and(for lack of a beter word to describe it)subtitles threaten to turn this film hokey,so the pressure is on the leads to deliver something sober and true and they just achieve it. Denzel in particular is very good at switching from reflective,depressed former government op to steeled,enraged and efficient killing machine,and it is nice to see Walken play someone who is NOT a creepy,edgy baddie for once. Overall,watchable and satisfying. 6 out of 10