Gripping Drama

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 2005)

What will a man do when he has nothing left? What will a man do when he has been given up on himself, and then the one true thing that lifts him up is taken away, leaving him grasping for that moment of hope, seeking salvation? What will a man do? That is the question Tony Scott asks in this brilliant movie starring Denzel Washington as John Creasy (J.C.), a CIA/undercover agent whose past is too terrible, too grisly, too monstrous that only his friend and colleague Rayburn (a standard Christopher Walken role) can describe. Rayburn says "A man can be an artist...in anything, food, whatever. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasey's art is death. He's about to paint his masterpiece." Creasy leaves for Mexico to serve as the bodyguard for Samuel and Lisa (Marc Anthony and Radha Mitchell) and their young daughter Pia (a fantastic Dakota Fanning). As Creasy attempts to deal with his demons, Pita takes a liking to the tortured man, and Creasy begins to open up and bond with the young girl.
But kidnappings in Mexico are a regular occurrence among the wealthy and Pita is the perfect target. Kidnappers take Pita on a calm sunny day, leaving Creasy to die on the streets. If only he had because they leave him in a state where he had hope, in the form of a little girl, and they've stolen something from him he hadn't had in many many years: compassion.
The last half of the movie, in gruesome details, follows Creasy as he enacts revenge in a symbol of redemption and salvation, and in the final scene, sacrifice.