Dead Center

At about the 20-minute point it dawned on me that I had tried watching this movie before years ago and wound up falling asleep about 30 minutes into it but, unfortunately, I was wide awake this time around. To put it bluntly, I don't like action films like this and I'm being generous with two stars, as I didn't care for this movie at all. The film starts out OK with some decent violence and we are introduced to our reprobate protagonist who has all of the qualities to make him a decent action hero, but the film quickly goes down the tubes from that point and stays there.

So, the guy (for reasons not fully explained) is selected to be an elite government agent so, of course, no expense is spared in whisking him off to a secluded military base and hooking him up with all of the best combat simulators and expert brainwashing....er....training, right? Well, all that stuff is OK, but what's even better is just sticking him in some beach house with a skeleton crew of trainers where he gets his own room and his boss struts around in a bikini. You get the picture. Action? Yeah, there's a bit, but not that great. To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, they have a scene where the hero gets his own place, and they use an extended time-lapse detailing him eating Chinese food and buying new furniture. Let me tell you, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what type of floor lamp the guy would buy! I want to accuse the film of putting style over substance, but the style is pretty weak, despite all the fluff, and I just write this mess off as Hollywood hogwash of the most annoying and pretentious variety. It served its purpose by putting me to sleep the first time around and fails at everything else.

I gathered from this film, when seeing a preview for it, that it looked much like a male perspective on Luc Besson's `LA FEMME NAKITA' or John Badham's `POINT OF NO RETURN.' On viewing, I found that I was right. It's the story of Joe (Justin Lazard, who would later rise to notoriety in `big' films like `SPECIES II' and `UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN') who is a criminal, and gets busted by the cops on some kind of illegal transaction. He is then recruited to work for the government as a hit man by a woman named Mary (Rachel York), whom Joe hates/falls for. In the end Joe tried killing his government companions and attempts to `get out' of the system. Though the action scenes are impressive, and the action is constant, the film lacks substance, and looks very much like a made for T.V. film. However, the end of the film is original, and good. If you want to see what `POINT OF NO RETURN' would've looked like with a man instead of Bridget Fonda, then this is your movie!

It helps me perhaps that I really like films such as this gritty, action packed film.

Sure, it's no classic, by any means, but I liked enough to buy the VHS tape, and I would buy the film on DVD, but it's never been released that way.

The main attraction for me is Justin Lazard, an actor who has never gotten the respect he deserves, or the roles either, for that matter. He's just perfect for this type of film, and his charisma and sex appeal shine here.

Too bad he's never been featured in more mainstream films (Species 2 being the exception).

I believe the film is well worth the visit, and I believe I'll go watch it again right now.