Good... but not great

Rating: 6/10 (13 January 2008)

This movie could have been so good. There's a lot of intelligent writing, good action scenes, a sense of tension that pervades the film throughout, but the whole end sequence seems contrived. The identification of the real shooter and the overblown portrayal of his character is heavy-handed, and from that point things seem to degenerate. A pity, because until that point the film was done very well. While the plot line was mostly good (great through to the late parts, average thereafter), I'd have to say that the characters didn't fare so well. Start with the good - there's fewer of them so it's easier. Mark Wahlberg gives a good performance as an embittered retired sniper, his attitude seeming to fit well with the character as written. Michael Pena's performance is superb, his character comes through strongly and is believable. I'm a little ambivalent about Glover's performance. He does a workmanlike job, but it doesn't really feel like there's anything behind it. He comes in seeming very professional, but by the end all he has is a a kind of smarmy arrogance that is not only grating, but seems counterproductive. Ned Beatty does the same - when we see him he seems quite effective, but by the end he is almost a caricature. To make matters worse, the female characters here are a complete waste of space. Kate Mara's performance consists mostly of emotional reactions after what seemed like a promising beginning, and Rhona Mitra seems to exist merely as a plot device. I saved the worst for last. Elias Koteas plays a character that seems to be in the wrong film - did he wander onto the set from a B-grade gangster movie, perhaps? Overall it was still kinda good, but I was hoping for so much more. *sigh*