Excellent Sniper Film

Rating: 9/10 (25 March 2007)

"Shooter" really surprised me. When my dad took me to see it, I thought it would be another crappy, shoot-em-up film that contained excessive gore and too much sexuality. Instead, I got an adrenaline-rushing flick with great acting, a thick, intense plot, and even better...Mark Wahlberg! In the beginning of the movie, it flashes back to a less successful sniping mission Wahlberg and his best friend Donnie are sent on. Three years later, Wahlberg has retreated to an outdoor cabin, living off beer and enjoying his dog's company. Then one day a US colonel (Danny Glover, Silverado) arrives at his house with a story about how he believed an assassin would try and kill the president during an outdoor speech, and that we wanted Wahlberg's opinion about how this could be accomplished. Wahlberg, completely falling for the scam, accompanies the men to Pennsylvania, but not before delving into the sniping game once again, taking wind readings from various buildings around the site. Of course, Glover and his men completely set Wahlberg up, framing him for the death of Uganda's (?) ambassador, but not before shooting him twice. Wahlberg, seriously injured and hunted, runs to Donnie's widow. During these events, Nick Memphis, an amateur FBI officer, is delving into the attempted assassination, and uncovering information that, for his sake, should definitely stay put. His suspicion about Wahlberg's crime turns into realization that the man is innocent...after being kidnapped and tortured, saved at the last minute at the suspect's expense. However, during this time, government officials have captured Wahlberg's gal, and are asking for his cooperation in the case in order to turn the suspicion away from them. What will Wahlberg (just remembered...his name is Bobby Lee Swagger in the movie) and Memphis do? Once again, this was a great movie with much more sewn into its plot than this comment summarizes, that is begging for your viewing!