Unlike Bruce Willis who can pull off corny scenes with a well-timed smirk and nifty lines, Wahlberg's style as an action star is more like Matt Damon: serious and efficient.

Rating: 6/10 (22 April 2007)

Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Tears of the Sun) takes too long to unravel this story based on Stephen Hunter's novel Point of Impact.
Which is a shame, since Mark Wahlberg is convincing as Bob Lee Swagger, an excellent marksman who has taken up a hermit's life after the death of his spotter and best friend (played by Lane Garrison, who incidentally also plays the quickly killed off "Tweener" in Prison Break). Sought to help figure out an assassination plot against the president, Swagger reluctantly agrees to help but finds himself double-crossed and framed. On the run, he sets out to find the real killer. In true Rambo fashion, he takes on hordes of enemies practically all on his own.
Danny Glover is subtle as the evil Colonel Isaac Johnson, and Michael Peña (World Trade Center) is also good in his role as the unassuming FBI agent Nick Memphis. It's just a pity that Memphis' dialogue and connection with Alourdes Galindo (played by Rhona Mitra, a TV staple on Nip/Tuck, The Practice and Boston Legal), the sexytary with the inside info, was not convincing and felt very contrived. Her appearances were just too convenient.
Also in the supporting cast is Kate Mara (Brokeback Mountain) who plays Sarah Fenn, Swagger's bestfriend's widow. Sadly, her roles becomes the trite damsel in distress who of course knows how to sew, with gratuitous shots of her in a state of undress. But one couldn't really complain because she was eclipsed by Wahlberg's own naked torso scenes.
While there are quite a number of terrific action sequences, overall, it was quite draggy, with some unforgivably corny parts (the terrible musical score doesn't help either!). Unlike Bruce Willis who can pull off corny scenes with a well-timed smirk and nifty lines, Wahlberg's style as an action star is more like Matt Damon: serious and efficient.