Uneventful and slow-moving

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2005)

I've seen this film on the shelf of the local video-shop so many times over the last half year or so. I kept considering buying it, and I kept deciding against it, mainly because I had barely heard anything at all about it(and certainly nothing positive). It aired on TV tonight, and I can only say that I'm happy I didn't spend any money on it. It's not a bad film, but it's not really a good one, either. It's somewhat average and it just doesn't feel like a complete movie. The plot is decent enough, and probably original... but it drags like you wouldn't believe. I don't remember the last time(if there was one) I saw such an uneventful and slow-moving film. De Niro gives the typical psycho performance, as seen previously in Taxi Driver and more recently in Cape Fear. Scott lazily directs this in no particular direction... it pretty much just goes on and on, with pretty much nothing really happening. I'm not sure if Scott was shooting for a character driven piece... but if he did, he missed. Unimaginative cinematography and repeated usage of the same cuts further adds to the boredom. A fairly good but overly loud score makes the viewing a tad bit more tolerable, as does the fairly high level of talent in all of the film's acting performances. De Niro's character is interesting, but we know too little about him, about who he really is, his past. In the end, maybe the real problem is that there's hardly anyone to root for in the film. De Niro is introduced as if he was the hero, but we quickly realize that he's the direct opposite. We then turn to Snipes, but he turns out to be a superstitious and unappealing athlete. One thing that bothered me was the heavy emphasis on the baseball game(but that's probably just me and my anti-sports view-point). As far as showing fanaticism and obsession at its worst, the film is OK. As genuine entertainment, there's really nothing in this, beyond the fairly good acting and score. I recommend this only to the biggest fans of De Niro, Snipes and Scott. Everyone else should probably just skip it. 6/10