Definitely on fire

Rating: 8/10 (14 February 2009)

Denzel Washington takes on a Bruce Willis role in MAN ON FIRE and does a great job. He plays a burned-out operative who agrees to guard the daughter (Dakota Fanning) of a wealthy family living in Mexico. Not surprisingly, she ends up kidnapped, he is nearly killed, and it quickly becomes apparent he was hired to be the dupe. Instead of returning to the states, he goes after the kidnappers. The rest of the film is pure action and nasty revenge, as he has been told the girl is dead. A great vehicle for Washington, wonderfully written and directed, but with some rather oddball artsy photography that detracts (see it and decide for yourself). Christopher Walken plays an old agency buddy, and Giancarlo G. is an investigator. One of Washington's best and unfortunately rarely seen on TV.