Hollow Point

For a B-movie this film succeeds where so many A-list action comedies fail where as it is actually funny. The chemistry between Griffiths and Carrera fires off the screen and it so cool seeing John Lithgow and Donald Sutherland just being awesome. What this film really shows though is the kind of sad missed opportunity Thomas Ian Griffiths was who quit acting in 2007. To his credit he absolutely has more screen presence and charisma than damn near any of the big action stars of the last thirty years and now we have people like Sam Worthington who is so dull its painful. A solid fun film.

This is a bad romantic comedy/action flick in the Lethal Weapon mold. All of the main characters are out of that strange Hollywood universe; however, John Lithgow and Donald Sutherland both turn in exceptional performances, and save the film, except for the times when they're not on the screen. See it if you're a film of Lithgow and/or Sutherland, avoid it otherwise.

The plot: A crime lord is uniting 3 different mafias in an entreprise to buy an island, that would then serve as money-laundering facility for organized crime. To thwart that, the FBI tries to bust one of the mafia lords. The thing goes wrong, and by some unlikely plot twists and turns, we are presented with another "cop buddies who don't like each other" movie... one being a female FBI agent, and the other a male ex-DEA agent.

So far, so stupid. But the strength of this movie does not lie in its story - a poor joke, at best. It is funny. (At least the synchronized German version is). The action is good, too, with a memorable scene involving a shot gun and a rocket launcher. But the focus is squarely on the humour. Not intelligent satire, not quite slapstick, but somewhere in between, you get a lot of funny jokes.

However, this film is the opposite of political correctness. Legal drug abuse is featured prominently, without criticism, and even displaying it as cool. That's the bit of the movie that seriously annoyed me, and renders it unsuitable for kids, in my opinion.

All in all, for a nice evening watching come acceptable action with some funny jokes, this movie is perfect. Just remember: In this genre, it is common to leave your brain at the door when you enter the cinema / TV room. Then you'll have a good time. 8/10

The only thing serious about this movie is the humor. Well worth the rental price. I'll bet you watch it twice. It's obvious that Sutherland enjoyed his role.

I don't know if it's her hairstyle (short hair looks great on some women - she is clearly one of them), or her soft makeup, or her attitude, or the way she handles a gun, or the way she fights. It's probably a combination of all of the above that makes Tia Carrere SO sexy in this movie it's distracting - you may find yourself focusing too much on her and not paying enough attention to the rest of the movie. Thomas Ian Griffith shows a flair for self-spoofing, a quality I always appreciate in an action hero, and Donald Sutherland clearly had a good time playing an eccentric, soft-spoken assassin. A quirky sense of humor, occasionally amusing dialogue ("When did you stop trusting me?" "January 30, 1968") and some big explosions add up to an unpretentious and generally fun little action-comedy. (**1/2)