End Game

Angie Harmon who seems to have more success on the small then the big screen with Law&Order and Rizzoli&Isles to her credit teams up with Cuba Gooding, Jr. to investigate nothing less than the assassination of President Jack Scalia. In fact it was rather a freakish event in and of itself. The assassin's bullet passed through Secret Service Agent Gooding's hand and may have changed direction ever so slightly and killed Scalia. That's left Gooding bummed and looking for answers.

Harmon plays an investigative reporter looking for the truth as well. But this particular president led a secret life as well along the lines of JFK and Gooding was the one who kept the secrets. He and Harmon team up for the investigation, but Gooding feels a loyalty to his former boss and wants to preserve his legacy. At some point they could be working at cross purposes.

The action is exciting however the story had a lot of holes in it. Harmon and Gooding work well together. They could have used some better direction as well. Playing a most mysterious role is a retired general Burt Reynolds. He definitely knows more than he's letting out.

Fans of the two leads should like this one.

I argued with myself whether to rent this or not. I'm always afraid of renting something I've never heard of (don't remember this being in theaters). Great cast...that's what tipped the scales. 30 minutes in, I almost stopped watching it. The first few minutes are fun to watch, but unbelievable. It only gets worse after that. The writers of this movie could do a little research on future projects if they want to make their movies even a little better. Or they could just try writing something just a little bit believable. I give it a 3....a 1 for the writing (only because there are words)and a 2 for being able to get so many good actors to agree to do this movie despite having to read the script. Oh my god this movie sucks.

After secret service agent Alex Thomas (Cuba Gooding Jr) gets shot trying to protect the President of the United States who's assassinated the question becomes who hired the dead shooter and why in this fairly average action thriller. The bottom line is they assembled a decent cast and a respectful budget to swim thru poor writing and cliches by the boatload.

Angie Harmon is the reporter who digs into the events, won't let things go and teams up with the secret service agent in pursuit of the truth. When everyone she talks to gets killed you know the direction we're heading in. By the time a bunch of mercs try to kill them both the writing is on the wall. The story is so routine, predictable to a fault that it's very easy to follow.

At first glance, there seems to be a lot to like. The film is shot well, polished and acted by a cast of recognizable faces. James Woods, Anne Archer, Peter Greene, Jack Scalia, Burt Reynolds and Benito Martinez all appear in supporting roles. However factor in the story that barely holds your attention and an ending, payoff that is massively underwhelming and you see why the cast alone can't salvage this tale.

We've had plenty of films explore presidential assassination before. I've seen others explore secret service members undivided loyalty to the President. Clint Eastwood's 'Absolute Power' comes to mind. The well worn issue of infidelity. 'End Game' goes thru the paces and pays the price ultimately not being very memorable or worthy of even a lazy Sunday afternoon viewing.

Viewers seem to be pretty much against this action flick, seeming to put it down because if IS an action flick, a fact that for this viewer prevents looking for the good parts of a movie that succeeds in making us think. Director Andy Cheng (also a co-writer for the script) has a background as a movie stunt coordinator and that talent serves him well in this fast paced, explosive, interesting film.

Alex Thomas (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a secret agent assigned to the President when an assassination occurs: Thomas takes a bullet for his beloved President (Jack Scalia) and comforts the First Lady (Anne Archer) when the President is pronounced dead. Thomas works for Head Agent Vaughn Stevens (James Woods) who comforts the grieving Thomas and sends him off duty to recover: Thomas goes off on a drinking binge and is discovered by an aggressive Pulitzer Prize news reporter Kate Crawford (Angie Harmon) and between the two of them they uncover a conspiracy that involves top ranking people. The perpetrator of the assassination is one Jack Baldwin (Peter Greene) who guides the events from is hidden space. Every lead Crawford uncovers is promptly destroyed by explosions or fires until the final confrontation of Baldwin with Thomas and Crawford. And just when the viewer thinks every step is utterly predictable, the ending leaves the truth about the assassination to the viewer...! Cuba Gooding, Jr. is a fine talent in search of a great role: in this film he does well underplaying his character with some of the subtleties that demonstrate more of his talent. Angie Harmon delivers a fine performance: she deserves more roles. Anne Archer remains a pleasure to watch, even in this small but pivotal role, and James Woods, James Selby, and to an extent the grossly disfigured, post multiple plastic surgeries Burt Reynolds create credible characters. This is not a great movie, but is certainly is one with some fine elements and offers promise for new director Andy Cheng in his stepped up role. Yes, it is a bit predictable until the end, but it is a far better film than many of the movies that had the experience of a theatrical run (this one went straight to DVD!). Worth an evening's watching. Grady Harp

i guess its possible that I've seen worse movies, but this one is a real stinker! the plot is unremarkable but thats not the worst of it. the directing is no where close to what you would expect from andy ching. he's capable of good work but failed to pull this movie together.

angie harmon, playing the female lead as a reporter dogging into who's behind the assassination of the president, truly butchered the role. there was no chemistry with gooding, her demeanor was flat and wooden, and the 5 inch spike heels she wore throughout the movie were absurd. this outing for harmon places her solidly at the bottom of the "b" list.

and what was cuba gooding thinking??? he has to his credit a number of outstanding performances, but this was far beneath what we've come to expect from him.

poor james woods and burt reynolds. poor poor poor poor poor.