ग्लिमर मैन

This is another Segal formula flick. Thankfully, unlike some of his more recent movies, he's in much better physical shape (i.e. he's not fat). Segal plays yet another former government operative, now a local police officer/detective, trying to live out his life out of the "business".

Shrouded in mystery and controversy, Segal, once again, become a one man wrecking crew taking out everyone and everything, while maintaining his clam, Buddhist/Art of War philosophies in the process.

Why on earth they dragged, Keenan Ivory Wayans into a Segal formula movie is beyond me. I mean not say I didn't like him in the flick, but why him? Better yet, why anyone? As far as I can tell Segal usually does his better movies running solo, as he is the bona fide martial artist. One would figure if you were going to pair him up with someone, make it another action hero or another martial artist.

Either way, if you're a Segal, action movie fan this movie is a good way to kill a couple of hours. If you're not into that, then skip this flick.

While "The Glimmer Man" isn't any outstanding action movie, I will say that it is still worth watching if you enjoy Steven Seagal movies. That being said, then it should also be said that it is a fairly average Seagal movie in every sense of the phrase. It is one of those mass produced action movies that most action stars tend to settle into doing, you know finding a formula that works and milking it beyond dry.

Story-wise then "The Glimmer Man" is your stereotypical Seagal movie. Yep, he is an ex-something-something now turned law man and taking on the seedy underworld singlehandedly.

You know what you get here; the usual Seagal martial arts, wits and punchlines. Yes, it is all here, and the obligatory broken arm as well. And true to most other Seagal movies he is untouchable, except for a single blow that gets through and strikes him. Indeed, business as usual.

Having Seagal act opposite Keenen Ivory Wayans, well I had some initial reservation to this, as I thought it would be comedy in the trademark Wayans fashion. But luckily Keenen proved to surprise and did actual acting and no do comedy.

"The Glimmer Man" is enjoyable enough for what it is, and bear in mind that it is a Seagal movie after all.

Neatly crafted action thriller, with Seagal on top wrist-snapping form as a Buddhist cop from New York, with a shadowy past, teamed with Wayans' wisecracking LA cop to investigate the gruesome murders of a serial killer, known as the `Family Man'. The two leads work well together; in typical buddy cop fashion which provides the film with the comic relief it needs to give the audience a break from the serious themes involved.

The script is competently composed; trying to surprise us as best it can with several twists and turns, however, the story is so fully packed with things going on that it's easy for the audience to get lost along the way. However, that is not a problem as Seagal is on the case with his usual array of impressive martial arts and likeable personality, encased in an interesting character. To me, Seagal represents, in a way, a modern day John Wayne, always playing the same out for justice, good guy role and taking no crap from anyone along the way. He is a screen presence that can carry even the most brainless of films, but this film has both brains and brawn. Wayans does very well here too, managing to avoid the typical stereotype of the African-American cop who is simply there for laughs.

The direction is standard but competent in keeping a relaxed balance between the hectic action (entwined with the tense build-ups) and the comedic peace-time goings on. The gorier parts of the film, like the murders, are handled with skill and successfully manage to create an eerie atmosphere rather than simply a gory head-turning occasion.

The Glimmer Man is not a masterpiece by any means but it serves its purpose well as a tense action thriller. It tries hard to be more than it is, but its lack of originality is its biggest flaw but it gets top marks for trying. You can't take anything away with you afterwards, but you can enjoy yourself along the way.

It was here the trend of Seagal starring in more economically budgeted movies with drab scripts that seriously lacked action. (And that were never screened for the critics!) Though the fight sequences here aren't has badly done as in his subsequent movies (the editing is less frenzic), they are few and far between. As a result, action fans will really be bored, especially since the story is so drab, despite it involving a serial killer who's especially sadistic. New twists to the story only occasionally come, and they are usually so murky that eventually the viewers will be confused as to who is doing what (and why.)

Seagal and Wayans never quite generate the necessary chemistry, despite the fact that their characters are opposed in their views and practices. Although they occasionally have some mildly amusing dialogue, the level of dialogue is generally bad, sometimes mind-bogglingly so.

It's easy to see why this didn't do much at the box office, and why Seagal increasingly became frustrated with Warner Brothers, eventually leaving them. (Though he returned for EXIT WOUNDS for some reason.) Seagal needs to not only stop playing the same basic character in each of his movies, but stop choosing scripts that recycle the same basic elements we see in almost every one of his movies. If he does that, there is a possibility he could remove the stigma of being a glorified "B" movie actor.

This movie is actually the proof that all you need to make a movie in Hollywood is a lot of unnecessary stupid action and a good ending story about 2 cops lynching bad guys. All 2 women in this movie that have a line other than 'aaaah', are dumb and over-sensitive. A few scenes that illustrate the originality of the script writers: bad guys in a car chase end up underneath a fuel truck, which explodes in a sea of fire... good guy falls out of a window, but can hold on to a ridge... cop:'do you know the doctor?' - girl: 'I don't need a shrink' - cop:'I never said he was a psychiater'...

Another aspect is the morality in this flick. On the one hand smokers are being prevented from lighting a cigarette, but on the other hand a cop can shoot someone in foot and hand during an interrogation. Of course this reflects the all-american point of view on the world: if you think someone is bad, you can beat the hell out of that person, without thinking twice.

Anyway, I know this movie might be fun for 80% of the American population, but I'm pretty sure this movie went 'straight to video' in Europe!