End Game
An assassination whodunit,End Gamestars Cuba Gooding Jr. as Alex Thomas, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the president of the United States. When the president is killed during his watch, Alex is wracked with guilt. Plucky investigative reporter Kate Crawford (Angie Harmon fromLaw & Order) convinces him that the gunman didn't act alone and that a conspiracy theory in this case is valid. Gooding plays his role with quiet reserve, a 180-degree departure from his over-the-top Oscar-winning performance inJerry Maguire. Harmon displays charm as the award-winning and highly unrealistic journalist. And Burt Reynolds shows up for a few minutes here and there to chew up the scenery as a general who may or may not be a rogue agent. Directed and co-written by Andy Cheng, the film has some thrilling action sequences. But its plot is transparent and when the mastermind behind the assassination is revealed, no one will be surprised.--Jae-Ha Kim