Mercenary

As a lover of action movies, this one took me by surprise, both because of how much I enjoyed it (which is hard to say these days) and because of how atypical it is for the genre. It is really like Laurel and Hardy do action... Funny, funny, funny! John Ritter is great as the guy who thinks he can do all the stunts, just cause he wants to go along for the ride, and Mr. Gruner is a powerful force, with a hint of the comedian hiding beneath his straight man. Great effort by Nesher, the director, who moves this great story with sheer force from the first frame... A must rent!

Now, granted, "Mercenary" is ultimately on the routine side of B-movies, but it's got a decent story and enough action to ensure that some peoples' attention won't wander.

Olivier Gruner stars as "Hawk", an operative hired by a very successful, arrogant businessman named Jonas, played by none other than John Ritter. A Russian terrorist for hire, Phoenix (Martin Kove) stages a massacre at a party Jonas is throwing for an author, and Jonas's wife is killed. The businessman is then ripe for revenge; his initial attempt to win over Hawk doesn't work out (largely because Jonas insists on coming along for the mission) but when Hawks' good friend and colleague McClean (Robert Culp) is set up and sent to the slammer, Jonas realizes that he can manipulate Hawk into doing the job by securing McCleans' freedom.

As written, by Patrick Highsmith and Steven Hartov, and directed, by Avi Nesher, "Mercenary" is acceptable turn-your-brain-off entertainment, with a twist to the plot and some amusing characters. It's particularly interesting to see Ritter in this sort of action fare. He's good, and he and the stone faced Gruner do have some fine comedic moments. With a cast featuring Culp, the beefy Kove, and the kick ass character actor Ed Lauter as Jonas's head of security, you know you're in for a good time. Of course, the movie is not without problems; for one thing, the big confrontation between Gruner and Kove is pretty disappointing. But there's so much gunfire, so many explosions, and so many stunt people flying through the air that the movie should suffice for undemanding genre fans.

Look for Jaime Pressly as a foul mouthed kidnap victim, in what is really one of the movies' better scenes.

Seven out of 10.

I knew this was a bomb when at the beginning, there is a barrage of gunfire yet no guests heard it but one man shoots one bullet and they all scatter like roaches. Went downhill from there. One bad guy says "screw you" and I laughed. Watch it for comedic value.

This yarn was supposed to take place in Moab, Jordan (erroneously mentioned as Moab, Israel but hey, that is par for the course for this flick !) . I have been to Jordan but never seen scenery like that ! And Russians living in "ancient" monasteries , crawling all over the Jordanian countryside in buggies and firing un-countable bullets AND at least 3 surface to air missiles ? Pull the other one !! I don't know whether the handful of "producers" got their investment back or not, but WHY waste money on a useless plot and a hopeless video film in the first place ??

This was a remarkably BAD idea. JOHN RITTER, who we knew for so long as the main guy in the " Three's Company " comedy series, had made a step out to the big screen to play a great role in SLING BLADE. He could have stopped right there and let that performance be the standard he was judged on by his fans.

WHY he even gave this ridiculous film a second look is unbelievable. His role is ridiculous enough, but every other role is right down there too. After 8-10 minutes of watching this literally incredible mess, the thought came to me that it might indeed be a dark comedy -- even with the rat-tat-tat action scenes, and the seriousness (?) of his revenge. It's as if the director tells Ed Lauter "OK, all you gotta do is give me your best Dolph Lungren from beginning to end". The gangsters that Ritter's front man encounters early at the sleazy bar are so damn over the top with their evil schtick that they are indeed HILARIOUS. And this film is remarkable in how poorly the actors use curse words -- so dramatic, so overdone ..... sooooo WHATTTT ?

This entire production will not endure as a resume highlight of anyone who is In the closing credits. One hopes that everyone involved retired with this effort. To this film, PLEASE JUST GO AWAY ... RIP ....