Zero Tolerance

Cool action B movie from the 90's with Robert Patrick

ZERO TOLERANCE was a recent "bargain bin" DVD purchase and in all honesty I threw it into the player this weekend as an antidote after watching "World Trade Center," figuring that after watching such a heavy-duty drama I needed to see something empty-headed as a chaser. In that regard, ZERO TOLERANCE didn't disappoint. It's a by-the-numbers revenge fantasy whose "plot" (scumbag drug dealers kill an FBI agent's family, so he goes rogue and hunts them down one by one) was probably written on a cocktail napkin, but there's so much wall to wall violence, carnage, and gunfire going off during its short running time that you barely have time to notice how silly the whole thing is. Robert Patrick of "Terminator 2" fame plays our FBI hero, who racks up some pretty impressive frequent flyer miles as he criss crosses the country picking off the heads of the "White Hand" drug cartel in Las Vegas, in New Orleans, and all points in between. My wife and I found it extremely funny after a while that there are dozens and dozens of goons firing thousands of rounds of ammunition at our hero throughout this movie and none of them even come close to hitting him, meanwhile Patrick can pop up from his hiding spots with two nine-millimeters clutched in his hands, fire off two shots at a time, and yet he hits his target every time. I didn't bother to try and keep a body count for this movie but I'm sure the grand total must've been astronomical. Nothing here hasn't already been done before in countless other shoot-em-up action movies like the "Death Wish" or "Punisher" films (to name but a few) but it sure is a fun ride while it's playing! If you find "Zero Tolerance" for less than five bucks (like I did) then by all means, take the ride.

Robert Patrick is quite the little terrier in this routine actioner about a wronged man hell bent on revenge (now, that's what I call a plot!) Patrick's claim to fame is that he looks a bit like Peter Weller (I'm gonna live forever!) And also played a robot in 'Terminator 2' (Now, that's what I call a stretch!) Here, he sports a blonde, bouffant, fifties rockabilly barnet and possibly the tightest pair of jeans I've ever seen in a movie. It's amazing he can talk, let alone roll around incessantly in those things, it's truly impressive, believe me. The whole ensemble makes him look like a reject from a Jimmy Dean look alike contest for violation of the the age limit. A rebel without a pause, he systematically blows away countless mafiosi without seeming to sweat. Patrick has devised a full proof method of combating the mafia which is basically 'duck and cover'. Frankly, I'm amazed he can even move, but it works. Despite having very loosely fitting standard Italian suits, the bad guys have not learned the concept of 'duck and cover' and continuously stand in plain site waiting for the cue to be riddled with bullets. They do not learn from this and just carry on with the same strategy. Back at bad guy central, the Mafia bosses scratch their heads over Patrick's astonishing success and decide that war has well and truly been declared on them, albeit from Lilliput. It can only end in one place. You guessed it, an abandoned warehouse. Or maybe they only look abandoned because they're so big. And full of explosions. Patrick, continuing his zero tolerance of gun control (and underwear judging by the EXCRUTIATING tightness of those jeans), proceeds to single handedly demolish Las Vegas, best described in a better film elsewhere as 'a suitably biblical ending to the place.'

The only other film I can recall with a similar looking lead with an eerily familiar pair of trousers is in 'Blue Jean Cop' AKA 'Shakedown', in which our hero, despite having very and I mean VERY tight jeans; manages to run, jump and hang off the wheels of a plane. Despite being called 'Shakedown', nothing shakes in his jeans, believe me. The actor in that film was a chap called Peter Weller. Funny, that.

Reading the other reviews, I didn't have high expectations. Boy, am I glad I watched anyway. Robert Patrick & Titus Welliver are EXCELLENT! If you have a problem w gratuitous violence, this is is NOT the movie for you. But if you like a good action/revenge movie, without a deep plot, then you'll like this. It's also recommend for anyone looking for '90's action.

There are a few problems... Robert Patrick's suicidal ideation is not realistic. It wanted to be Mel Gibson's scene in "Lethal Weapon," but it fell short. Patrick probably didn't have enough real pain to draw on for this scene.

The second problem... Mobsters don't kill family members & they don't kill cops. It just brings too much heat. I thought they we're going to reprimand Welliver"s character for this, but...not really. Gangsters also don't blow up cars in the middle of the Vegas strip, for the same reasons. I hate to see this, because then it moves it into Steven Segal territory.

The third problem... Why are all women in these types of movies useless simps? I'd like to see just one of these movies with a woman like me in it, instead of a nagging harpy. I thought the female FBI agent in this movie was going to back him up, but noooooo. All she does, is get her ass kicked, get in his way & then goes and narcs on him to his superiors. Useless. Her character could & should have been eliminated.

The fourth problem... The ending is ridiculous. Not the lone man seeking & getting revenge, but how this movie goes about it. There are so many other ways this could have ended, that would make it more believable, & less Segalesq. Because of the ridiculous plot twist, I dropped it 2 stars.

Overall, an enjoyable '90's action thrill ride. If you like that kind of fare, I recommend it.

Though I will always recognize PM Entertainment and director Joseph Merhi for being the main producers of karate B-movies from the 1990s, a flick like ZERO TOLERANCE reminds me that they were in fact more versatile when it came to the action department. This is an ambitious, occasionally cool but ultimately mild shoot-em-up picture that foolishly takes a "less is more" method when it would have been better off embracing excess. Particular fans of Robert "T-1000" Patrick may apply.

The story: When his family is murdered and his own life endangered by a powerful drug cartel, an FBI agent (Patrick) becomes a vigilante deadest on revenge.

As much as I like ol' Joe Merhi, I wish that a more inventive director had helmed this one and brought more life to the potential-filled plot. PM regularly made films that were a lick or two above the dramatic average of competitors, but here, it unsuccessfully attempts to navigate a precisely-balanced screenplay. John Flynn or Andrew Davis might have taken the screenplay and coordinated it into an escalating action-thriller, whereas Merhi bloats the first half of the picture with plot while skimping on action, then reverses the formula for the second half. It's a competent film, definitely, but the dramatic scenes appear awkwardly-placed and the actors often underwhelm in their performances.

Action-wise, the movie does well enough but could achieve more. Much to my surprise, there was a smattering of fight scenes, though none of them particularly stood out. The highlights are several exhibitions of bullet ballet, clearly modeled after John Woo's output. Viewed in a vacuum, the handful of large-scale shootouts is furious and entertaining. However, other films have had better results in westernizing the HARD BOILED standard: NEMESIS and even HARD JUSTICE are both relatively cheap films that alternatively did a better job of aping Woo's style and improvising with the resources they had. ZERO TOLERANCE features occasionally cool stuntwork and a handful of unique guns, but I've seen much better.

Strong production values are balanced out by a surprisingly grim tone, making this an interesting action flick to watch but not necessarily a fun one. I declare it to be on the low side of average: worth catching on TV, maybe worth renting digitally, but probably not worthy of purchase.