Jeu fatal

An American action drama; A story about a man thrown out of the police force under suspicion of theft who is approached by a mysterious man with an offer to wipe the slate clean, but it comes at a high price. Seagal's persona as the drunk and indebted man, down on his luck, and showing some fragility works reasonably well but his character is undeveloped. Some of the scenes with the fallen cop and his daughter are touching all the same. The film contains some good hand-to-hand fighting sequences, plenty of action, explosions and shoot-outs. Some of the slow-motion effects are distracting but the overall production has merit. It has a predictable plot though the film's finale is well constructed.

This isn't bad at all.

In what's probably his best acting performance in a while, Seagal plays a former cop with a shady past (what else!) who's up to his neck in gambling debts, is way too fond of alcohol and a pretty lousy father to boot. A mysterious man (a cool Lance Henriksen) buys up his debts and wants Seagal to eliminate a few scumbags to work it off. So in fact; Seagal's his new whipping boy.

The film's not without it's fair share of clichés, takes a few convenient shortcuts and some of the action scenes are a bit stiff but"Pistol Whipped", as another Steven Seagal direct-to-DVD flick, is really OK entertainment.

Steve is actually pretty good in his role here, looking like he's actually trying to act and he comes out a winner. He's getting a bit puffy again but he looks solid enough in the action department. Others are so so with only old pro Henriksen making any kind of impression.

Kudos to the script as well. As said, it's far from perfect but it does have a nice twist up it's sleeve and it gives our man a little better dialog than usual.For fans of Seagal this is a must. For others, "Pistol Whipped" is still an OK way to kill an hour and a half.

I'll start by saying that I have seen all of Steven Seagal's films, from Nico to this one, and at one point thought he really went downhill with shadow man and the films that followed (Attack force and flight of fury) then came Urban Justice which I thought was a bit of an improvement and then I saw Pistol Whipped, and thought thats more like it.

Unlike a lot of his previous films this one actually has a deep story, its about a disgraced ex cop who is obsessed with gambling, has a lot of dept and is an alcoholic, he is approached by a mysterious stranger that offers to clear all his transgressions if he agrees to assassinate specific targets.

The performances by the cast are excellent and also unlike Seagal's previous films, he doesn't overshadow the rest of cast, for instants, where Seagal is either framed or has lost a loved one because of a gang, and then all it boils down to is Seagal going from one area to the next and beating the living snot out of who ever made him mad, and in that case the rest of the characters only consist of gangsters, terrorist or to put it mildly, they may has well be in the movie to act as human punching bags, where as in this one you have a lot of great characters like Drea, Blu, the old man and even Matt (Steven Seagal's character).

Lastly, the direction by Roel Reine is definitely the best I've seen out of all the other direct to DVD Seagal movies, and his other credits includes Drifter and dead water(also starring Lance Henriksen).

Roel Reiné's 'Pistol Whipped' is A Passable Entertainer, that has some arresting moments & hardcore action scenes working on its advantage.

'Pistol Whipped' Synopsis: Matt is an elite ex-cop whose life has gone down hill since he was kicked off the Force. After a rough encounter with a mysterious henchman, Matt is brought face to face with his only chance at reclaiming his life and clearing his gambling debt markers.

'Pistol Whipped' is fairly entertaining, with some arresting moments making it reach the safe zone. J.D. Zeik's Screenplay is fairly decent. Roel Reiné's Direction has potential. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are average. Action-Sequences are very nicely executed.

Performance-Wise: Steven Seagal is still kicking-butt, which is obviously good. Lydia Jordan does a fine job. Lance Henriksen has a brief role. Arthur J. Nascarella is decent.

On the whole, 'Pistol Whipped' is Passable Stuff.

I was surprised that this film was very good. To be honest, after the last two Seagal films I thought he was done, but wouldn't you know....he's back. I should have known not to count him out. He definitely hits the bullseye with Pistol Whipped. The rest of the cast for the film did a great job too. Lance Henriksen always plays a good part in anything he does. I was also happy to learn that this film was shot in Connecticut a few towns away from where I live.

I'd like to see Seagal do more small acting roles like he did with Executive Decision. Hopefully he'll be back in the theaters soon. I would have paid to see this movie at a theater.